Fifteen Years Ago Today

Owoooooooo.....

This is a bootleg video, so I'm including it more for historical purposes than appreciation of its quality, but this is the fat man performing Zevon's "Werewolves of London" at the Oakland Coliseum on Halloween 1992.

The show is relevant because it was one of his "I'm not dead!" shows. Garcia slumped into a diabetic coma after summer tour that year and this was a little comeback show for him before he headed out with the boys for some December shows in the Western US.

Vince Welnick's band actually opened this night.

I'm out teaching today so no posts in the afternoon.

Don't eat too many Butterfingers.

The Decline of the Gayborhood

The Times ran an interesting item this morning about the decline of some notorious "gayborhoods" in major cities like the Castro in San Francisco.

As a backdrop, and perhaps for other reasons, the story is draped in the annual San Francisco Halloween bash being canceled this year. There was considerable violence last time and way too many posers showing up.

The neighborhoods are going away because people are now spreading out to the suburbs and the prior enclaves invaded by heterosexuals.

The reason for this seems to be that it's becoming less and less a big deal to be gay.

While my cohort probably has somewhat higher-than-median wages and education, I can't name a person I know under the age of 60 who I believe would give a crap if a homosexual couple moved in next door. That's not a statement about my virtue or that of my company, it's just become such an irrelevant thing to characterize someone as.

When you know this information about someone, what does it really tell you besides the obvious?

While there's something charming about the surviving socio/ethnic neighborhoods that survive in our cities, their demise is probably a good thing because of the larger story they tell. Shells of the neighborhoods will survive for a long time, but the areas no longer have to serve as the only place certain folks feel comfortable to be themselves.

My Cubs hat is tipped to the Times for an informative feel-good read today.

Why Is Everybody Always Picking on Me?

As guessed-at earlier here, the story is not going to be how Obama et al put on the gloves against Hillary, but how it's perceived.

Hillary has already staked her claim, putting up on her news site links to articles about how all the boys are ganging up on her.

Dems to Debate Tonight in Philly

ManTan Williams moderates the latest Democratic debate tonight in Philadelphia on MSNBC.

With the World Series over and one day till the Cav's opener, this is the only game in town tonight.

Given my addictive tendencies, I'll probably tune in looking to find out:

• Everyone wants to know just how far Barack is willing to go in his much-ballyhooed offensive against the Junior Senator from New York. The more interesting question, really, is how it's going to be received. It's a difficult balancing act to go after her without falling into the viper's nest of being framed a male pig. Just ask Rick Lazio! Hillary's cunning stunts when it comes to her cafeteria style feminism will make this an entertaining show.
• How will John Edwards manage to stay in the front pack? Will he make a stink about his latest "college for everyone" proposal?
• Will anyone in the Democrat party ever catch on and realize that Joseph R. Biden would actually make the best President of this bunch? With his tendency for warming a whole auditorium by merely introducing himself, he might not be the best candidate in the world, but the risks he brings to the table are outweighed by the fact that someone like me has a hard time articulating why I could never vote for him.
• Who will be the first person to make a brotherly-love joke in reference to Obama's latest La Cage aux Folles.

Is That a Banana In Your Pocket? And Is it Ripe?

Funny article about the Hot-or-Not hiring practices of Trader Joe's that caught my eye this morning.

Trying to Cash in on a Little of That BoSox Mojo...

Kind of in a big of funk with some work things, so I was not in the mood to post before, but I did want to throw a tune out there to make your day complete.

I was trying to think of cool Boston-area band and the challenge became choosing between The Cars, Boston (duh), Aerosmith and New Edition.

So I decided to settle on the band best-known for a tune I'm not posting here ("Centerfold").

The J. Geils Band is still around, I suppose, but one of their songs that I'll always crank up also seem to be titled in poor grammar.

Enjoy "Must of Got Lost"....and I have no idea what The Mamas and the Papas are doing at the end of this video...I didn't do it.

G'night.

Hell Hath No Fury

Not a whole lot of geopolitical significance to this story, but it caught my eye as kind of amusing.

Man and woman date circa 1999 and, for whatever reason, things don't work out.

Fast forward to 2007.

Man has moved on and gotten married.

Woman still feels jilted and decides to get creative, creating some kinky ads purporting to be man's new wife.

Single woman should have messed with someone less-computer-savvy.

Crazy chicks are great.

Quickie Post

Boy, is Dodd taking a spanking on MTP this morning.

He's stuck in the same position a lot of folks are....trying to back out out of the parking spot they got themselves into in the 2002 Iraq vote.

Now that I think of it, they do remind me of a 15 year old trying to get into or out of a parallel parking spot...

It Being Sunday and All, We're Going to Do a Song of Spiritual Derivation

It's not too often that I will choose a 'spin-off' band's' version of a song over the way the Grateful Dead did it, but I might have found an exception to the trend.

This is Bobby Weir's Ratdog performing "Samson and Delilah" down at Bonnaroo last summer. While the Dead's version was nothing to sneeze at, it sometimes rocked a little bit too hard. Bobby takes the song back closer to its roots and sounds more like the version favored by his teacher, Rev. Gary Davis.

Enjoy!

No More Mr. Nice Guy

I'll resist the temptation to post up the Alice Cooper classic because I'd rather put on some Grateful Dead music appropriate for the Lord's Day.

That said, Democratic prez hopeful Barack Obama said yesterday that he's taking off the gloves with his ballsy opponent, Hillary Clinton. To date, he's held off on much direct confrontation of her record, audaciously choosing the high road.

While we'd all love to believe in this Mr. Smith Goes to Washington fantasy he was presenting us with, it just couldn't carry him all the way. At some point, his patrons started to warn him that the cupboard would go bare if he didn't show at least some bit of spunk in this race and call Hillary on some of her poop.

With John Wayne McCain starting to show some signs of life out there as well as this Obama development, this is shaping up to be a wonderful early primary season for the junkie class.

Steve Dahl to Move Back to Mornings?

Steve Dahl, who I more or less grew up listening to (which explains a lot) is still alive and kicking in Chicago. He's been the afternoon drive jock at WCKG FM for years and I often pull down his podcasts as a nice way to keep in touch with the homeland.

He's a radio innovator who was 'podcasting' before it was even called that.

Heck, I even learned what a vasectomy was when he had one on the air when I was in grade school!

Over the years, despite changing conditions and unlike the rest of his cohort, Dahl has remained relevant. In the latest Arbitron book, he was barely edged out by the Hispanic station for the top spot among men 25-54.

He's also a columnist at the Chicago Tribune.

Well, if you believe Bob Feder's column, the Stever is ready to head over to the formerly-oldies station 104.3, which is now the Jack-FM format to cover the morning drive. Dahl would be the only human jock on the air.

There's no mention of this over at his site. Questions remain, of course, if just Buzz Kilman will go over with him, or if this shuffle would allow the Garry Meier reunion that many of us have been waiting for.

Speaking of Chairman Mao

I wanted to throw down a little Little Feat on this typical fall afternoon.

This is a band that, for the life of me, I've never been able to figure out why they never really made it...at least before Lowell George checked out.

They're doing Apolitical Blues in this clip from 1977 with the Stones' Mick Taylor and at the risk of sounding like an old fuddy-duddy, they beat the pants off most contemporary bands.

Go Buckeyes.

Tony Harris...A Newsreading Fool

Tony Harris is probably a nice guy. I bet he's a good husband, family member, provider and neighbor. He probably goes to church on Sunday, doesn't forget birthdays and eats his asparagus.

But his presence on CNN weekend does little but inspire me to spit my coffee at the Philips TV.

In the embedded clip below, you get the full range or Harrisims that should entitle him to a weekend of listening to nails being scratched on a chalkboard. We have the fake stutter, the pause implying a deep thought is being formulated (yet nothing deep comes out of this clown's mouth) and the staccato speech usually reserved for things like, "Ask not what your country can do for you..."

As much as I hate to goof on a former Clevelander, he's our newsdoofus of the week.

Taking a Leak on the Campaign Trail

An item in the Caucus this morning inspired me to copy over a description of exhibitionism from our friends at Wikipedia.

Exhibitionism, known variously as flashing, apodysophilia and Lady Godiva syndrome, is the psychological need and pattern of behavior to exhibit naked parts of the body to another person with a tendency toward an extravagant, usually at least partially sexually inspired behavior to captivate the attention of another in an open display of bare "private parts" — i.e., parts of the human body which would otherwise be left covered under clothing in nearly all other cultural circumstances....Usually, flashing is done as a momentary "thrill" to inflate the ego of the flasher while having the "added bonus" of increasing the arousal of the recipient(s).

They cite a leaked "internal memo" they got from the McCain campaign yesterday going over the strengths and weaknesses of the Giuliani campaign. McCain is feeling more confident after a good debate performance in Florida and improving poll numbers over the last week.

The details of the memo didn't interest me as much as the Times' insistence on putting "leaked memo" in quotes throughout their posting. They said that this is a trend that's always been around, but increasing this year...when campaigns dress up what would normally be called talking points to look like a leaked memo.

Doing it this way gives members of the press the idea that they're seeing something inside and secret, and are more likely to pump them up and give them more visible coverage in the paper.

Alec Baldwin...One Funny Dude Who's Not Afraid to Straighten Your Ass Out!

I don't usually watch 30 Rock, but I suspect I might have to hop on the bandwagon.

Clips/episodes I have seen before were really much cleverer than your average show and this one, which I believe is from last night, really gave me a good chuckle!

Idiotdore

I can't believe I'm even bothering to post this crapola, but it struck me as amusing.

Some piece of Samsonite across the pond got a full-back tattoo of this Dubmbledore from the Harry Potter series. He thought, of course, that this would show what a bad ass he was.

Now, he's finding that the ass is still involved, but playing a different role.

He's upset that the revelation of the characther's sexual orientation has turned his tattoo into a permanent dunce cap.

I don't know what the sexuality announcement really added to the story.

Phantom Limb by The Shins

'Cause of the earlier post on The Shins and listening to a tape of one of their shows from this summer in Australia, I decided to post up one of their more recognizable tunes from Wincing the Night Away.

Enjoy!

You Can't Buy Publicity This Good

Well, Rudy has someone upstairs smiling upon him.

There's a story starting to get picked on this beautiful fall day that when he was going after La Cosa Nostra in the 80s, then-US Attorney Rudolph Giuliani was within one vote of being rubbed out by the Five Families in New York.

I'm sorry, but the guy was already running on a claim of having the biggest set east of the Mississippi, but this pretty much just made those puppies golden, too!

It's coming out as part of a trial, so I don't know how manipulatable all that is, but if it's not then the good Lord must really be a Boston(?) fan, too....

Review of a Shins NYC Show in Today's Paper

Alas, no new studio album to announce here, but one of my favorite comtemporary bands, The Shins, got a nice review today in the Times. Check them out....

Freedom's Just Another Word

Heh heh heh....we like to kid ourselves about the web being all Democratic and stuff, but we don't like it when it really happens (anyone look at myspace or craigslist anymore?).

The boys over at redstate.com have gotten fed up with the Ron Paul crowd and decided to ban them so they can get back to...kidding themselves.

Wow, I Was At This Show!

This is pretty neat. I was listening to a bootleg of Billy Joel in Milan 1990 this morning and was then looking for something cool to post up.

"Everybody Loves You Now" came to mind as somewhat less popular hit of his that I can listen to over and over...like most of Joel's catalog, frankly.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found a clandestine tape of his show from last spring out here in Cleveland! The audio is slightly tinny, but I have to admit that the video quality is amazingly crisp!

Enjoy...this guy really does get better with age.

Cool Interractive Google Maps Tool for CA Wildfires

Came across a nice application someone built into Google Maps to look at the various fires that are turning SoCal into an inferno.

The Los Angeles NBC affiliate also has a fascinating photo collection they are building up. I've never seen anything like this and unlike other things like hurricanes and blizzards, which seem somewhat more predictable on a micro-level, I can't imagine how scary and frustrating something like this must be.

McCain...Not Dead Yet

Teaching a class at work today, so not much time for posting, but....

I walked away from Sunday's GOP debate fairly impressed with John McCain. He was not behaving like a dead man walking in any way. He had some good lines and was also not afraid to throw a punch at Romney ("You have been lying about your own record for a year and a half, don't lie about mine, too.")

The Times has a piece this morning on his campaign manager, but not former NASL star, Rick Davis.

The McCain Applause Line

from last night's GOP debate...

Apple Slices

This was probably my favorite desert when I was a little kid and I finally remembered to ask my mother to send the recipe up...and I made it the other day. Thanks Mom.

You really should do yourself a favor and make this...courtesy of the Dyer Jaycees.

BTW, the powdered sugar frosting may not be entirely clear. I used 1C of powdered sugar, a tablespoon or two of water and a tablespoon of light corn syrup. That seemed to work fine. I might also up the dough recipe just a touch more up to 3-cup proportions. Click the pic below for easier reading.

Jurassic Five Performs Quality Control

Sometime over the spring, I got turned on to Jurassic 5 on Minnesota Public Radio's The Current.

As with a lot of things, I was a little late to the game as they were in the process of breaking up, but I really really enjoy these cats.

They give me a bit of a reason to give some hip hop a fair shake. I don't know how someone can listen to something like this and not recognize it as an art form just as legitimate as blues, jazz or classical.

Imagine That!

This item from The Caucus....

In his Web column today, Adam Nagourney writes that “the value of actually telling voters something they do not agree with is emerging as one of the dominant themes in the Republican presidential contest.”

Drudge...Still Relevant

I've been an avid Drudge reader for longer than I care to remember. His is truly the go-to site for things that are sure to catch my interest.

The Times runs a front-page splash on him this morning. The article went into the discipline of the Clinton campaign and how they are playing nice with Drudge because of his influence in the process.

As recent evidence, they cite the leak he got of her contribution report...just in time to spoil an Obama Iraq speech.

You'll recall that Drudge really came into prime time when he broke the blue dress story.

The Band Performs Ophelia in The Last Waltz

Next to The Grateful Dead Movie, The Last Waltz is probably my favorite concert movie of all time.

Director Martin Scorsese did such inventive work of digging into the behind the scenes squabbling and mixing it right in with the magic the guys worked on stage...in this case on Thanksgiving 1976.

This cut of Ophelia has a little bit of the interviewing in there so if you want to get to the tune, FF to the 2:30 mark.

Enjoy!

Quick Post on GOP Debate

While Huckabee continues to say most of the right things and Ron Paul got a few rounds of boos, John Wayne McCain probably had the line of the night.

He was talking about how he was a better spending hawk than the Junior Senator from New York, and brought up a $1M project she proposed last week in the Senate to honor the Woodstock Festival.

Paraphrasing, "I'm sure it was a major cultural and pharmaceutical event. However, I was not able to attend. I was a bit tied up at the time."

Woodstock, of course, took place during McCain's five and a half year stay at the Hanoi Hilton.

GOP Homecoming Night

The Republican Presidential hopefuls head down to the Sunshine State tonight for a "Values" Voters debate televised by Fox and moderated by Brit Hume.

Conventional wisdom says:

• Huckabee, after some strong polling and straw poll results this week could show that he really does wear big boy pants and is ready to run with the front pack.
• It's gut check time for Thompson. The Jesus freaks really want to love him (in a Biblically-appropriate way, of course) but so far he's being seen as downright indifferent to the whole process and not in possession of the "fire in the belly."
• Giuliani's straightforward, "this is who I am, take me or leave me, but at least you know where I stand" strategy, while risky, could pay off if people are scared of running a hick and their other guy, understandably, would rather be at home poking his trophy wife.
• The Christians remain rationally concerned that Romney's myth of order in the universe does not mesh so well with the myths they believe in. This gives them strong reason not to trust him to set appropriate tax policy.

I'll be flipping channels tonight between this battle and the one in Fenway as our Indians struggle after two straight losses to Boston in their bid to make it to the Series.

Heading out for the wonderful 80-degree day we're expecting here in Cleveland...

Excellent Cut of Like a Rolling Stone

Amazing Dylan...

Me and Bobby...Jindal

I don't know a hell of a lot about Bobby Jindal yet, but I really like the larger story he's playing a part in. It's almost impossible to be interpreted negatively.

Yesterday, the son of Indian immigrants was elected the first non-white governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction and this nation's first-ever governor of Indian descent.

To add a little sugar on top, Jindal is a conservative Republican, casting at least the shadow of an outlier on the myth/truth that southern GOP voters are Klansmen by another name.

We'll all be paying attention to whether this 36 year old can clean things up down there and perform his job with a little bit more competence than the dimwit who beat him in his first attempt.

In other racial barrier news this week, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is pushing Major League Baseball to retire the jersey of Pirates great Roberto Clemente....on the basis of his being both a humanitarian and the first Latin American elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

That's quite a feat.

Of course, bestowing this honor could not happen without incident. Relatives of Frank and Jackie Robinson are fighting this move. They don't need a lousy spic encroaching on their perch on the top of Mt. Victim.

>> Note...I just thought the picture I chose above was funny. Neither of the individuals in that picture is actually me ;-)

Normally I Am a Strong Proponent of Interrupting Sheila Jackson Lee

...but in this case, I guess the 911 Truth crowd caused quite a ruckus.

I know that there are folks who find Bill Maher and his show very annoying. I'm not one of them. While the debate isn't quite as high-minded as some people pretend, I like the relaxed mood and the wider boundaries around expression and topics that you get with being on HBO.

So I hope these a-holes don't end up leading to a change in format for the show.

Candidate Colbert to Appear on MTP Tomorrow

I rarely miss the Russert Sunday gabfest anyway, but I'm curious to see how tomorrow morning's show goes.

In addition to a pundit roundtable (which will include noted BoSox fan Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose mood could depend on the outcome of tonight's Indians/Sox game), Russert will be grilling apparent Presidential candidate Stephen Colbert.

Mr. Smarty Pants took some steps towards a run last week, but he could also find himself in hot water if Comedy Central keeps promoting him!

Underrated and Awesome Aerosmith Song

One of my all-time favorite Aerosmith songs, and one that never seems to get its due, IMO, is "Chip Away at the Stone."

This cut is clearly from the pre-sobriety band. While I'm all for people cleaning up their act when their time comes, as this band most certainly has, you can't help but see how different they were back then as a stage presence. More tired-looking and sloppy? Sure. But there was a bit more of an authentic rocker thing going on, as well.

Either way, I have to hand it to these guys for still touring and putting out new, albeit less relevant, music at their age and after their travels.

Party on, Wayne. You are worthy.

Something That Makes Me Giggle

Old joke, but still funny....

A Republican and a Democrat are talking. The Republican says to the Democrat, "I bet you can't even say the Lord's Prayer."

"Sure, I can," the Democrat answers. "Here's $20 says you can't," the Republican responds.

"You're on," says the Democrat, who begins reciting, "Now I lay me down to sleep…"

The Republican hands over the $20 and says, "Man, I didn't think you could do it."

A Toast to the French for Breakfast

A little Frank to kickstart your day.....

Brothers From a Common Mother...Sorta

Funny item linked up on Drudge this morning....Barack and Big Time are distant cousins!

Okay, This Sounds Good

I have a little thingamajig on the side of the blog that gets new recipes from Epicurious all the time and I scan now and then. Every once in a while, I find a winner and tonight I think I have one.

This Toffee Crunch Caramel Cheesecake sounds really friggin' good.

I have a go-to plain cheesecake recipe, so I might just follow their directions for the topping, but if the weather continues to chill down out here in the rust belt, I may be dishing some of this up for the neighbors sometime soon.

Actually, this is funny...I wanted to link you over to the cookbook where I get my aforementioned go-to cheesecake recipe and remembered that I still have a commentary for it up on Amazon from way back when...

Just in Time for His Birthday!

Look what you can get online now at this major retailer!

A Little CSN

Has there ever been any prettier-sounding trio than Crosby, Stills and Nash?

I had a hard time picking what to post here when I caught myself in a mood for their music tonight, but we win whichever way we turn...and I settled on "Wasted on the Way." The film is crisp here on this tape from 1982 in LA.

Go Tribe.

Voices of Reason

Race-baiting bigot Al Sharpton was in the nation's capitol today speaking to another beacon of reason, John Conyers, and the House Judiciary Committee about the Jena Six incident.

My opinions on this pretty much line up with the National Review's take on it today...the incident is ugly on a number of fronts. The white students who started tempting trouble by hanging a noose on the tree down there in Louisiana should have been punished more harshly. Their lenient treatment by school administrators has to be interpreted as somewhere between awful insensitivity on one end of the spectrum and a racist relic of the old south on the other.

But for Sharpton and others to turn the hoodlums who beat the snot out of a white kid later as some sort of 21st century Rosa Parks is just more of the dishonesty we have come to expect from this charlatan. It's also well-within-character for the idiot Chairman from Michigan, whose primary legislative move each year is to press again for slavery reparations.

The larger problem with all of this, of course, is the Reverend Who Cried Wolf (I had to substitute nouns there, of course) syndrome. Because knuckleheads like Sharpton are always eager to superimpose Klansman hoods onto almost any cross-racial story, it's hard to have an open public discussion of actual racial wrongdoings in this country.

Star Star...Also Known as Something Else

Since I occasionally post at work, I'll just link up the potty-mouthed lyrics to this Stones classic. This is from 1978 in Fort Worth.

Was listening to the famous '75 run at the LA Forum this morning, so it was kind of running through my head during the day.

Enjoy!

I Couldn't Help But Post This

Having been raised a Catholic in Indiana, I do reflexively root for the Irish if they're on but a little schadenfreude can be a good thing now and then.

Best line is the sung, "BC has better Christians..."

Sorry, GB....

Fred Heads

I have to agree...

Minnesota Nice is Not Nice When You're a Writer?

While it was not the most original editorial in the world, there was a mildly-interesting little article on the bottom of the editorial page in the Times this morning about young women writers and a certain flavor of politeness they have to overcome if they are to be taken seriously as writers.

The writer is able to use a visit to a small Lutheran college in Minnesota as the backdrop and does the obvious comparison to the phenomenon known as Minnesota Nice here.

It's a little bit of a hodge-podge of an article (the writer also laments the fact that more professors are choosing to live in the Cities and commute out to the small town colleges where they teach) and doesn't really address the negative perception of Minnesota Nice (that some people find it to be fake) but it was a nice little diversion to scan through.

Going to Have to Dig Out My Rolling Thunder Tapes

Taking a break from housecleaning and I came across this excellent "Isis," performed by Dylan and his Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975.

He was probably on my mind because there was a cool article in last week's Sunday Magazine about the upcoming "I'm Not Here" movie about him. It's a long article, but I found it to be worthwhile and interesting.

The flick got some initial "huh?" sort of ink when people found out that Cate Blanchette is playing one of a handful of "Dylans" in the movie. While I have to withhold final judgment since I've not seen the movie, I can say that the stills of her from the movie are pretty convincing. Next, the article goes into how it's really kind of an experimental movie. There are 6 Dylans in it, one of whom is played by a little African American kid. The point they're trying to get at is how Dylan has repeatedly reinvented himself over the years, shrugging off the past and moving on to the next thing.

I'm anxiously awaiting its release out here in Clevleand, but my understanding is that Weinstein wants to drag out the release a little bit and build up a following.

Edwards' Attempt to Clean Things Up

Obama's getting bad coverage this week. The story seems to be how Hillary is running away with it and that the Junior Senator from Illinois may be resorting to some traditional jab-politics.

Reality check time.

But the story that's bothering me this morning is a new proposal by Potsie Edwards. Now he wants to shrink the cap on how much an individual can give to a presidential campaign to $1000 from $2000.

At first glance, this seems like the honorable thing to do. If we reduce the amount of "influence" an individual can inject into a political campaign then we reduce the number of monkeyshines going on. To raise the same amount of money, a candidate has to appeal to twice as many people willing to open up their checkbooks now. We have a bit more of a shared destiny.

On a very high level, I get the logic. It ain't rocket science.

But the question I'd love to ask Edwards is this...They've shown every willingness to restrict the right of individuals to give to campaigns in the name of cleaning up the system. They've been willing to say that money is not speech and that it's perfectly OK to restrict folks' rights to talk about certain things when leading up to an election if we do it in the name of something unquestionably holy like campaign finance reform.

But what if we decided to reform the system from the other end. What if we told candidates that they have the right to put up as many ads as they want until the point at which they become candidates for President. When they do, they will only be allowed to show 2 paid advertisements per week. If they want to get their messages out to people they will have to beef up their internet sites or hold lots more in-person events where they can talk with individuals one at a time and convince them to vote for them.

While my proposal sounds capricious and arbitrary, is there any cosmic significance to a $1000 or $2000 limit on donors? Further, what's so wild about reducing the need for donations as a means to removing money from politics? It's certainly more responsible than keeping demand at a constant (or raising it) while forcing the gathering of funds to feed the beast into more and more creative solutions.

I won't hold my breath.

If There's One Thing I Can't Abide, It's an Ethnocentric Racist

Ah yes, the great Kinkster...

I was shocked that I could not find any videos for this up on Youtube, so I decided to learn how to do a little editing myself. This is very sophomoric first attempt at putting a slide show to music, but I did and posted it myself.

Moviemaker is actually quite easy to use, so I think I'll mess around with this a little bit more.

Enjoy a little Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, now, whydontchya...because he really is right.

They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore!

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I stumbled across an absolutely hysterical show on FX recently and may start to keep up with it.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars Danny Devito as a bar owner and his 20-30-something-ish cohorts and some of their general hijinks. The characters are generally pretty dopey individuals, but the situations they get into allows the writers to explore some pretty edgy social critiques.

In the first episode I caught, a man who just moved over from Israel moved into the neighborhood and bought the building next to theirs. Due to some archaic city zoning documents, it turns out that he owns the whole block and ends up trying to push the gang out. In the meantime, they get into a bunch of spats and he erects some fences all around their little otherwise-worthless area and the lead characters resort to making terrorist-like videos, toilet-papering and poop-bag throwing.

You get the drift...I had cramps I was laughing so hard.

I highly recommend this show.

Fox seems to have cracked down on use of videos from the show because most of the Youtube content is now null, but I was able to find an official trailer for the upcoming season. Check it out if you haven't already.

Powered by AOL Video

What a Treat!

The other day, I came across a soundboard tape of the Grateful Dead at the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland from 11/21/85 and practically boogied down the street as I heard the opener.

The boys were in fine form this evening and came out playing a song they only did two times in the post-Pigpen years...Big Boy Pete. It's a fun little ditty that kind of reminds one of the Jim Croce classic, Bad Bad Leroy Brown.

The other interesting thing about this song that brings it right back home to me is that the only other time they played the song after 1972 was at the Rambler Room at Loyola University Chicago in November 1978. This is at my alma matter and the Rambler Room is where I used to have breakfast on the weekends when my dorm's cafeteria was closed! The band did a little gig there in the afternoon for a charity before the main show that night at the Uptown Theatre.

So I found a homemade video from this wonderful night in 1985. The video quality is really crappy, but what a thrill to listen to the crowd warm up when they realize the gift they're being given! Enjoy!






The joint was jumping on the corner
Down on Honky Tonk Street
All of a sudden up pulled a Cadillac
And out stepped a cat named Pete

A diamond on every finger
He wore a tailor-made suit
He smoked a black cigar, he wore a Stetson hat
He wore a pair of cowboy boots

Busted on through the doorway
Mad as he could be
Said, don't mess around, I'll cut you down
'Cause my name is Big Boy Pete

The music stopped, there wasn't a sound
Over in the corner stood Bad Man Brown
Brown smiled and grinned, he said my friend
If you take two steps further, I'm going to do you in

Pete said look here buddy
I know I'm going to tan your hide
I got a fourty five, keeps me alive
Got seven bullets on my side

Brown pulled a knife, jumped on Pete
They fought from the counter right on out to the street
They swung from north, they swung from south
Brown cut that black cigar right out of Pete's mouth
Pete hit the ground, he yelled and screamed
Then he took his Stetson hat and fleed the scene

If you're ever down on the corner
Down on Honky Tonk Street
Don't mess around he'll cut you down
Take a lesson from Big Boy Pete

Hey, It's In The Economist!

I heard this on the radio on the way home and had to look up the article...

There's a study that some psychologist out at the University of New Mexico did. In the pursuit of science, he found out that female dancers' earnings tend to vary along with their menstrual cycle.

The guy is an evolutionary psychologist, specifically.

Hmmm...now why did I walk away from academics?

The Democrat Who Shagged Me

Heh heh heh...as if the Democratic race wasn't good enough on this Friday, there's now a story making its way through the mill that John Edwards has been dipping his pen in the campaign ink!

Al's Had a Good Week

Hillary finally hit a rough patch this morning with the announcement that Albert Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize.

God, this would be great if he jumped in the race now...

News I Can Use

I have been a fan of seltzer water for years....I love the bubbles, but don't always care for all that syrupy cola.

The problem is this....since I drink it like, uh, water, it's such a big pain to buy in quantity at the market.

So I'd done a little bit of research on getting a seltzer water maker for home, but then kind of back burnered it for a little while.

I was pleased to find this article in the Dining section of the papr this morning reviewing what's on the market.

I might just have to break down....

Stream of Consciousness Posting

I guess it's a Two-fer Tuesday here...the Zevon reference in the Californication posting got me reflecting back on another lost gem whose music moves me.

You have to hand it to anyone who can put out a rockin' song like this while you're dying of cancer, you can bring The Boss in on the tune, and you can get in this kind of a reference...

I'm sprawled across the Davenport of Despair

This is from Zevon's swan song. Enjoy "Disorder in the House."

John Lennon Would Have Turned 67 Today

I can never get enough Lennon...

I Hate the Godawful Voiceover Work, But...

Californication, a new series on Showtime this year is pretty damned cool. They had the pilot episode available on Netflix and I've been getting the other episodes by alternative means, Matey.
The pilot and first regular episode had a bit too much graphical, gratuitous sex scenes for something where the story should be the backbone, but they seem to have toned that down to more suggestion than plumbing and the show really benefits.

The one thing that can never go too far, or be too gratuitous, is their willingness to throw down a good Warren Zevon reference now and then, so that alone is worth everyone's time!

You can get the gist of it from the clip below, but Duchovny gets to show off some of his admirable comedic timing as well as some charm. Speaking of charming, his daughter is just precocious enough to be entertaining, but occasionally dips her toe over the line.

Give it a look if you have the time and inclination!

‘In Economic Terms, You Are a Depreciating Asset’

This is a very funny story...

Cool Weather Site

Came across a very easy to use NOAA site that has intermediate temperature and precipitation forecasts. It's not day-specific or anything like that, but just a good feel for what's around the bend.

Renaissance of Appreciation for REM

I've started, lately, to revisit an earlier appreciation for REM. I was never their biggest fan and don't plan on having 'Stipe' tattooed across my ass or getting a dog named Eponymous, but they were probably a much cooler band than I originally gave them credit for.

Enjoy "Finest Worksong" from their 1989 tour movie.

Religious Right...Moving to the Children's Table?

I posted here last week that one of the redeeming qualities of the Rudy campaign is that it might just take the Religious Right down a few notches in the GOP. After Bush's re-election in 2004, especially after their anti-gay, bigot-baiting routine I had to live through here in Ohio, they were just about due for an attitude adjustment.

There's a short article in the paper this morning about how this may just be happening. There's early evidence on two fronts. First of all, none of the leading candidates felt compelled to show up at a somewhat-major conference of theirs earlier in the year. (One will note that the leaders felt similarly comfortable citing 'scheduling conflicts' as their reason for not showing up at Tavis Smiley's debate in September.)

The other thing I find interesting, as has come up before, is the modest amount of support that Rudy is getting from them. The Mayor's stats sheet is not what you would find on the typical Evangelical's dream centerfold candidate, but with the exception of nutball James Dobson, they're not organizing an all-out war on his candidacy as you might expect if they figured they had the capital to do so!

You gotta know when to hold 'em.

This is the Giuliani I Wish Was Running

The New York Times, which I have to compliment this morning, ran a nice article yesterday in their print edition on Rudy's years as Mayor and his weekly call-in radio show. Back in those days, he took calls live on WABC once a week and played the role of the street tough that gave him some of the charm I admired as a non-New Yorker.

His present image is another story.

Well, in addition the the entertaining article, the Times put up a cool audio archive of clips from his radio show. Included is the famed ferret incident.

The larger compliment to the Times is getting with it and putting some significant effort into beefing up their online presence. While I always look forward to the print edition, they're starting to become a bit more of a go-to site for both breaking information and where I look for some richer information such as these audio clips and the concentration camp slide show I posted here a few weeks back.

Kudos.

The Last Time the Cubs Won a National League Pennant Was the Year We Dropped the Bomb on Japan

Wait till next year... ;-(

Go Cubs

I might have to break down and head to Holy Rosary today...Mass should be finished up by gametime.

Tutu You!

There's a controversy brewing in the little sister city of St. Paul, Minnesota.

St. Thomas University recently revoked a speaking invite to Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu over some statements he's made about Israel.

Some people got a little bit twitchy when (as they see it) he drew parallels between modern Israel and the Nazis.

Imagine that.

Glad I'm Not a Prosecutor

Whoh, this one caught my eye somehow...

Since I'm here, I will post up a mention of a really entertaining book on the Angels if you ever have the time. Hunter wrote it way back before anyone else was into them...

Here's the original article, from The Nation in 1965, which the book grew out of. Great stuff.

You Know, I Don't Think You're Ricardo Montalban.

Jacobs Field...A Biblical Place?

Not being a big sports guy in general, I sat down to watch my second Indians game of the year last night. It seems that when I choose to watch, weird things happen.

While the season is not over yet, as the Indians are up 2-0 in their ALDS series against the evil Yankees, their season has been somewhat bookended by odd weather events.

The first game I watched was the regular season opener against the Mariners, which had to be put off till later in the season due to freak spring blizzard that screwed us up this year.

Last night when I tuned in, we had another plague-like event landing on Jacobs Field...bugs!

I live about five miles from downtown Cleveland and did not have any big problems at home, but the field was overcome by "Canadian Soldiers," which are these little bugs that apparently only live a day and don't have mouths (so they can't bite).

I could not find a good closeup picture, as they showed on television, how these little buggers were covering players' skin, but it had to have been very distracting!

Anyway, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my Cubbies can come out of their 2 game deficit against the D-backs when they return to Wrigley this evening, but my failure to commit has left me with two teams I can root for this post-season.

There is Something Redeeming about the Rudy Campaign

Laxatives may temporarily interrupt one's current daily schedule, but they provide a needed relief and the end result is basically positive.

I've posted many times that I'm no big fan of Rudolph Giuliani's campaign for President. I'm pretty sickened by how he's capitalized on the events of 9-11 as justifcation for his Presidential fitness. I think he has other redeeming qualities that would be more honest to run on.

That said, the way he's dealing with the religious conservatives that apparently hold so much sway in the GOP primary process (and, to a lesser degree in general elections), and how it may play out, is encouraging to me.

As of now, his general statement to the modern day Sanhedrin seems to be, "I'm more or less with you guys on the things that matter, but I'm not going to pretend I'm holider than thou and I'm not going to change my public stance on anything. I hope you're going to give me your vote, but I pretty much know that some people won't. So be it."

Likewise, I don't want to lose GOP votes, but I'm uncomfortable with the ritual candidates need to go through, bowing to these bozos and saying the exact things they want said.

It's not unlike how Dems have to genuflect for The Revs. Al and Jesse. If Rudy can break through and get elected without twisting himself into the doll the James Dobsons of the world demand and still get elected, it's long-term good for the party and the country to purge ourselves of their veto power, even if it means that we have to listen to him re-live 9-11 every week for the next few years.

I Hate to Pile on ABC

But because I couldn't even last until the first commercial break during Tuesday night's premier of Cavemen, I feel no remorse about posting this unfavorable review from the LA Times.

We were joking at work yesterday on whether you could go to Vegas and bet on how long till the show is canceled. I'll have to check into this.

Sarah Silverman is Very Funny

I never remember to watch things on Comedy Central, but I probably should.

This is really unsettling, but also quite funny in a demented way.

Any Excuse to Play Some Ol' Dirty Bastard

More bizarre than Britney losing the fruit of her loins and claims that the Blackwater boys are just a bunch of grown-up boy scouts, it was announced that the Beatles are ready to break with their tradition and license out some music to fellow artists.

And who would be more appropriate than the Wu-Tang Clan?

Yes, they're going to sample "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" for an upcoming release.

This will be interesting...

Anyway, like I said, I just wanted an excuse to play some ODB (RIP) from his days back on the Stern show when he provided some of the best sound clips of all time.

Burger King Makes it Your Way

The Stupidest Show of All Time

I'll eat my Asics if I ever end up liking this stupid Caveman show....

Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This has been one of my go-to recipes ever since the parentals got me a subscription to Cook's Illustrated about 7 years ago. It's a great cooking magazine because they don't take ads, minimize fluff, and just get to straight cooking things...recipes, tool reviews and little tricks.

I also love the articles because they start with something simple like, "how do you make a good carrot cake?" and then go through the several schools of thought on this and settle on a general gameplan. After that comes the part I really like...they present a few different routes to the same desired outcome and tell you why this-that-and-the-other-thing didn't work. That's just so interesting to use and it also helps the ambitious reader avoid making the same mistakes.

I could not find a nice pic of a chicken breast oozing out blue cheese and walnuts, so I settled for a cheddar and broccoli one, but you get the idea.

Follow this sometime...it's really good!


Two tablespoons dried cherries or cranberries can be substituted for the figs. The chicken breasts can be filled and rolled in advance, then refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
INGREDIENTS
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (5 to 6 ounces each), tenderloins removed and reserved for another use
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small onion , minced
1 small clove garlic , minced
2 ounces cream cheese , softened
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese , crumbled (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cups chopped walnuts , toasted
3 medium dried figs , chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon dry sherry
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (fresh)
3/4 cup vegetable oil

See Illustrations Below: Assembling the Stuffed Chicken Breast

1. Following illustration 1 below, place each chicken breast on large sheet of plastic wrap, cover with second sheet, and pound with meat pounder or rolling pin until ¼-inch thick throughout. Each pounded breast should measure roughly 6 inches wide and 8 ½ inches long. Cover and refrigerate while preparing filling.
2. Heat butter in medium skillet over low heat until melted; add onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer; set aside. In medium bowl using hand mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Stir in onion mixture, thyme, gorgonzola, walnuts, figs, and sherry; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Place breasts skinned side down on work surface; season with salt and pepper. Following illustrations 2 through 4 below, fill, roll, and wrap each breast. Refrigerate until filling is firm, at least 45 minutes.
4. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread flour in pie plate or shallow baking dish. Beat eggs with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon water in second pie plate or shallow baking dish. Spread bread crumbs in third pie plate or shallow baking dish. Unwrap chicken breasts and roll in flour; shake off excess. Using tongs, roll breasts in egg mixture; let excess drip off. Transfer to bread crumbs; shake pan to roll breasts in crumbs, then press with fingers to help crumbs adhere. Place breaded chicken breasts on large wire rack set over jelly-roll pan.
5. Heat remaining ¾ cup oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, but not smoking, about 4 minutes; add chicken, seam side down, and cook until medium golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn each roll and cook until medium golden brown on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Return chicken rolls, seam side down, to wire rack set over jelly-roll pan; bake until deep golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center of each roll registers 155 degrees, about 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing each roll crosswise diagonally into 5 medallions; arrange on individual dinner plates and serve.

(click the pic below and it opens larger so you can read it better..)

Is it Wrong...

...for a man to post a series of Cary Grant film clips set to Depeche Mode?

I don't think so.

But there is a certain homo erotic quality to all of this...

Well, this is a great song, so I'm going to post it anyway.

Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame

Tough days in South Bend this year. Even the Lord can't look! Thanks, GB.

Mick Jagger's Greatest Hits Released This Week

Mick Jagger releases his greatest (solo) hits album this week. I thought this was as good an opportunity to post up something from his Wandering Spirit album in 1993. My old friend and college roommate, Rick, turned me on to this one back then and I have to say that over time, it's probably worked its way in, and remained, on my top 20 studio releases of all time.

It's interesting to me to hear what front men choose to do in their side projects. I like getting a peek in the window in how much the supergroup might be constraining people...and what they choose to play when they are freed from the expectations of their primary band. Jerry Garcia Band was comparable to this.

Anyway, here's a live cut of "Evening Gown." Enjoy!