The Raconteurs- 9:30 Club May 27 2008

Very rocking show last night at the 930 club... really impressed..Brendan Benson definetly held his own.. they played most of the new album which is pretty kickass... Jack White seemed pretty pleased with the show.. almost as good -read loud- a crowd as you're going to get in DC...

Profiles of potential Obama's Vice President

can be found here:

http://www.theleftanchor.com/

I think reading the profile of Jim Webb has helped me realize he might
not be a good fit (particularly combined with Sabato's analysis that
Webb would not help Obama win Virginia).. I also have to fully agree
with the profile on Sebelius that she would not help win Kansas.. and
the profile discounting Wesley Clark..

but read the one about Strickland... I really am starting to think
that of all the possible choices Strickland has the most upside -
namely Ohio's electoral votes.. Of course thats not entirely surprising as I thought so at least 5 month ago!

Strickland the Appalachian?

Apparently Strickland- Governor of Ohio and contender to be Obama's VP
is from the Eastern part of Ohio bordering West Virginia and Kentucky-
ie. appalachia or thereabouts..he represented this aread in congress
for six terms...given Obama's trouble with this region his selection
would seem very helpful...I note Kerry did carry this region in
2004...Strickland is still a fairly popular governor.... His age
-67-nicely balances Obama

Warner over Webb for VP?

Larry Sabato - who knows what he talks about- thinks only Warner can
turn Virginia blue... There may be other reasons to pick Webb over
Warner but Virginia's electoral votes are not it...

Top Vice Presidential candidates for Barack Obama?

I have to say the top candidates to my mind are the following:

Hillary Clinton

Ed Rendell

Mark Warner

Jim Webb

Ted Strickland

I hope I am not forgetting anyone but basically I am looking for a VP
who can help Obama win states. Someone who comes from the Hillary camp
also helps in mending fences. I think Rendell could help take
Pennsylvania - although I believe Obama would take it anyway and if he
were to have a tough time taking Pennsylvania that pretty much means
he would not be president- and a bit in Ohio. Strickland should help
with Ohio which is a key state. Meanwhile I have to believe that
either Webb or Warner would help turn Virginia blue.

Unfortunately I can't see a way for Obama to win Florida so I won't
even bother with that one.. even with Hillary on the ticket I just
don't see it...

I personally really like Wesley Clark but I don't feel he could bring
in a state with heft so he fails the critical test... no more
Liebermann's or Edwards'.. this time we need someone for VP that can
deliver a state..

There are big problems relating to putting Hillary on the ticket OR
keeping her off the ticket and in some ways thats the more important
issue at hand with respect to selecting a Vice President. Picking her
would make Obama look like his hand was pushed/weak because there is a
perception rightly/wrongly that he just can't stand her... At the same
time if she wants the gig and he does not pick her Hillary could make
his life difficult... But picking her would steal some thunder from
Obama's message of change/moving past the Bush/Clinton/Bush years...
On the other hand Hillary supporters which are many and include groups
with reservations about Obama (older voters particularly elderly
women, white working class voters in industrial states/appalachia,
catholics) naturally complement Obama's own strengths with his core
voting groups...

I see little attraction in the prospect of Sebelius or Richardson and
don't believe the arguments in their favor hold much sway...Likewise I
think Dodd and Biden are non-starters particularly the former...

Another name that is often mentioned- Bloomberg- much as I like him is
a nonstarter...

On the other hand I do like Chuck Hagel and I would add him to the
list if he were interested and there was some good vibes between Obama
and himself...One would have to think he'd help peel off some possible
republican/independent votes from McCain...He doesn't however fit the
profile of someone who can deliver a state...

My final preferred list: Hillary/Rendell/Strickland/Webb/Hagel

But you have to think it will be difficult for Obama to ignore Hillary.....

The verdict is in on the Washington Nationals and it ain't pretty

Well I gave it about 29 games.. I have to say this Nats team has got to be the most boring team I have ever seen... they have nothing exciting going on either pitching or hitting-wise.....Ryan Zimmerman is seemingly unable to break out and in fact has arguably regressed.. Austin Kearns would not be on the roster of probably 90% of Major League Baseball teams.. he is battling out there to get close to the Mendoza line! It is a motley crue of rejects and castoffs with a slight Small Red Machine flavoring.... And the pitching staff? Can anyone seriously tell me that guys like Redding or Odalis Perez are going to last more than a few games.. these guys are not the answer.. when they pitch well enough to give up only 3-4 runs then the Nats have a chance but these Nats are never going to overpower you with the longball... they may get 5 or 6 hits and if you thrown in a timely one and maybe an error on the opponents part (or a few walks) then maybe the Nats will pull it off.. but come on.. compared to the Boston Red Sox these guys are zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz And why? I never realized DC was such a small town?Here I was thinking we were a reasonably sized market with a new stadium drawing oh i don't know on the order of 30,000 maybe or just about the Major League Baseball average for last year... but from looking at the roster you'd think we are Kansas City (no offense George Brett, and the rest of that illustrious early 80s team) or Milwaukee!

We did make some great offseason moves like unloading Ryan Church who can actually muscle a ball out of the park.. oh he's hitting .316 right now with 19 rbi's for the New York Mets who play in our same division.. Explain that one to me!..We sure could use that bat...were the Mets able to do in 2 months what the Nats couldn't do in three years: teach him how to deal with offspeed pitches? Then we traded Schneider for an over the hill catcher who it later turned out had been on steroids the one or two good years he had...I 'm talking to you Loduca.

Give me a break... To get fans to go out and watch the games and support you and pay for what are comparatively very expensive tickets: comparison time- break- seats behind home plate at Baltimore O's games (camden yards)= $45 .. seats behind home plate at new as yet unamed Nats stadium = $300.. of course its true that the seats behind home plate at the Nats park are all empty cause NO ONE is crazy enough to shell out that kinda cash unless its the New York friggin Yankees and Dimaggio is playing... but i digress.. point holds because the rest of the stadium is largely similarly overpriced relative to other teams.. and what do we get for that??? do we get a half decent team or do we get a team whose heart of the order is battling to see the Mendoza line.. the latter i'm afraid... this just won't work Karsten/Bowden fellas. you need to go out there and find a big bat! remember the old adage: it takes money to make money? Having a new stadium is just like having a new toy..its going to wear off quick if the team on the field continues to provide the soundtrack to a nice snooze...

Joe Trippi confirms what the whole world knows: he is an ASS!

Now we are supposed to know that Joe "I bailed on Howard Dean with a few million for my firm's crap ads" Trippi AKA the SELLOUT just knew that John Edwards should have stayed in and would have had a few hundred delegates at the brokered convention in order to play kingmaker BUT somehow he did not tell him that...

 

What kind of an ass is this guy? I mean if he knew that and he didn't tell Edwards what was Edwards paying him for???? Moreover, the whole scenario is hardly plausible because Edwards was completely flaming out.. he got 4% in Nevada, 17% in his birth state of South Carolina but we are supposed to believe that on Super Tuesday he would have garnered 300 delegates??? ON WHAT PLANET???

 

What we are seeing now that Obama is suffering the effects of a brutal two month slog having McCain and Hillary trashing him together with their cohorts in the media and those in the media who just can't let this thing mercifully end.. what we are seeing is a lot of revisionism.. but I remember January and February..I remember when Edwards dropped out.. it wasn't that long ago!

Ben Andrews no longer at Madams Organ Bar in Washington DC!

OH man oh man what a bummer.. i suspected as much as I don't know that he's played there during 2008 yet but have a confirm from the madams organ club (one of 10 best bars in the world according to playboy) that he has taken an extended leave of absence and they are not sure he'll be back.... really too bad i did not see him enough the past year or two...man one of my favorite things about dc gone.. he really is an incredible blues singer/guitarist/performer.... if you haven't seen ben andrews perform gallows pole you ain't lived buddy! Hopefully things will get straightened out , someone will make him an offer he can't refuse and we'll have him back on 18th street in adams morgan!

Its over but no one realizes it? (if a tree falls and no one hears it...)

I'm rather exasperated with this election. I look forward to some time away from the politically charged and rarefied Washington DC air.

I think what is most frustrating is that the election has essentially been over since mid February and yet we continue to have these distractions on issues of race or elitism. By all logical interpretation Hillary Clinton needs to make up the difference to a large extent with super delegates and - in spite of all the distractions- Barack Obama is now within 20 super delegates of Hillary with less than 300 outstanding of which about 60-70 are off the table as they are add-ons which will largely reflect the vote from their states. In fact, what we are consistently seeing is that the super delegates far from coming to Hillary's aid have been consistently coming out in support for Obama which is why he has narrowed the gap which a few months ago was over 100 delegates. This original gap in super delegates responded largely to DNC super delegates appointed by the Clintons and perhaps their feeling some sort of debt. Can Hillary win the outstanding non add on super delegates 170 to 70 and win the remaining pledged delegates by 50? Judging on what we are seeing it simply challenges all logic to believe so. Moreover, can she even come close enough to revive the issue of seating Florida and Michigan in a way that is convenient for her? We are seeing even during the depths of Obama's campaign that he is still winning over the unpledged super delegates.

Therefore, considering the proportional representation used to allocate delegates, considering Obama is up about 155 pledged delegates this means Hillary has no chance. I suppose Obama could crater and his super delegates defect but what we are seeing is in my opinion a huge waste of time and energy which only serves the interests of John McCain and a Hillary Clinton candidacy in 2012. Obama has been the defacto nominee for two months now and people need to wake up instead of swallowing the media line. Some may not like it- including understandly those who need to sell newspapers- but it is simply too late to do anything about it! Sure, if we had known back then what we know now about Barack Obama maybe democrats would not have voted for him but we did not know it and thats just the way it is... Hillary picked up between 8-10 delegates in Pennsylvania. Technically she was further behind after Pennsylvania than before it voted given there were 158 less delegates from which to make up the difference. She did gain a little over 200,000 popular votes but the notion that being ahead in the popular vote should she somehow get there means the rules of the game don't apply seems nonsensical. It would be like saying that the team that won a close basketball game did not deserve to win because the crowd cheered loudest for the losing team. No. What matters is what happened on the court during the game played with agreed upon rules. The fact the crowd/popular vote may reflect a wish something different had happened does not change the score or electoral outcome.

Also one last point: while it is true that Barack Obama faces resistance from certain segments of the democratic party it is also likewise correct that there are many people who could never bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton. Instead of framing the issue in terms of "Why can't Obama close the deal?" as many media pundits/simpletons do why not raise the question of "Why can't Hillary close the deal?" After all Hillary began the election with every conceivable advantage and yet here we find ourselves today- April 30- and she not only could not close the deal but finds herself behind resorting to far fetched scenarios to even justify a continued presence in the campaign. That the media has elected to go along with this is not surprising as their job......... is to sell newspapers after all!

Or at least thats the way I see it...

Silver Beats coming and will be back up band for Chuck Berry at Virgin Festival!

I shit you not! This is for sure Seth's doing as he's of course organizing the Virgin Festival up at Pimlico and has had the Silver Beats in twice already (to open for the Killers and for a show of their own at 9:30 Club):

 

From the Silver Beats myspace site

 

 

Saturday, April 19, 2008

SILVER BEATS BACK IN THE USA!!!! Category: Music Konichiwa! It is our pleasure to announce that the Silver Beats will be coming back to the USA to perform at the Virgin Mobile Festival August 9th at Pimlico Park in Baltimore, MD We will be performing on our own and also as the backing band for Chuck Berry!!! The time of our set and Chuck Berry's set will be right before the Foo Fighters! Also performing is Jack Johnson, Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails, and many more tto be announced soon! On August 8th The Silver Beats will headline a show at BB King's Bar in Times Square in NYC!!!! More details coming soon!!!!!!! Arigato! The Silver Beats

Virgin Festival 2008 Line up announced Pimlico

(also I have heard the Silver Beats may be coming!)

 

From Pollstar:

Sat 08/09/08 "Virgin Mobile Festival"
Sat 08/09/08 Bloc Party
Sat 08/09/08 Cat Power
Sat 08/09/08 Chuck Berry
Sat 08/09/08 Citizen Cope
Sat 08/09/08 DJ Dan
Sat 08/09/08 Donald Glaude
Sat 08/09/08 Duffy
Sat 08/09/08 Erol Alkan
Sat 08/09/08 Ferry Corsten
Sat 08/09/08 Foo Fighters
Sat 08/09/08 Gogol Bordello
Sat 08/09/08 Jack Johnson
Sat 08/09/08 KT Tunstall
Sat 08/09/08 Lupe Fiasco
Sat 08/09/08 Paramore
Sat 08/09/08 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Sat 08/09/08 Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
Sat 08/09/08 Soulwax
Sat 08/09/08 Steve Lawler
Sat 08/09/08 The Offspring
Sat 08/09/08 The Swell Season
Sat 08/09/08 Underworld
Sat 08/09/08 Wilco

Sun 08/10/08 "Virgin Mobile Festival"
Sun 08/10/08 Armin Van Buuren
Sun 08/10/08 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (B.R.M.C.)
Sun 08/10/08 Chromeo
Sun 08/10/08 Deadmau5
Sun 08/10/08 Iggy Pop
Sun 08/10/08 Lil' Wayne
Sun 08/10/08 Moby
Sun 08/10/08 Nine Inch Nails
Sun 08/10/08 Pendulum
Sun 08/10/08 Richie Hawtin
Sun 08/10/08 Stone Temple Pilots
Sun 08/10/08 Taking Back Sunday
Sun 08/10/08 The Black Keys

Bob Cranshaw- Master bassman!

Part of the treat last night at the Sonny Rollins concert was to also see and hear Bob Cranshaw play the bass. If you love the Blue Note lps as much as I do his name invariably pops up. For example he played the bass on Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder and Grant Green's Idle Moments (one of my favorite LPs). Here's a picture of Cranshaw with Bobby Broom on guitar. The band also included Clifton Anderson on trombone and Kimait Dinizulu on percussion with Kobie Watkins on drums. This was the same band that played on Sonny Rollins' last cd "Sonny, Please" with the exception of Kobie Watkins replacing Steve Jordan on the drums.

Sonny Rollins (with Bob Cranshaw) April 18 Kennedy Center Washington DC

Momentous night last night! Got to see Sonny Rollins with his band which includes the great Bob Cranshaw on bass. Managed to snap some pictures.

Four tickets to paradise?

CONFIRMED: There will be a new AC DC album in 2008!

this means things are going well in vancouver- they have been there working on the record for 6 weeks now so they would not announce this today if they didn't know they have it in the bag- and we can expect a new album and more importantly a tour!!!!!!...i do think this will be AC DC's final tour.

 

good news! gotta put some money in the ac dc concert fund!

 

 

AC/DC working on album for release later in 2008

1 hour, 26 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Australian rock band AC/DC will release its first album since 2000 later this year, according to a posting on the group's Web site (http://www.acdc.com) Friday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are working on the untitled project in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who has recorded such acts as Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen.

AC/DC's last album of new material, "Stiff Upper Lip," opened at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 in March 2000, and inspired a yearlong world tour.

No tour details have been announced for the raucous rockers, who are known for such heavy-metal anthems as "Highway to Hell" and "Thunderstruck."

The new album will be AC/DC's first for Sony BMG's Epic Records label, which reissued the band's back catalog a few years ago.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman)

Stay classy Israel!

Personal Message:

wow! what a classy attitude on the part of israel towards the man who helped negotiate the camp david accords..i guess gratitude doesn't go so far as to cover helping ensure a former president's safety when he visits your country!! All for wanting to meet someone and talk!!

Israel snubs Carter, declines security help

Mon Apr 14 21:48:13 UTC 2008 By Adam Entous JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli leaders shunned former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a visit because of his plans to meet Hamas and Israel's secret service declined to assist U.S. agents guarding him, U.S. sources said on Monday. "They're not getting support from local security," one of the sources said, on condition of anonymity. An American source described as "unprecedented" the lack of Shin Bet cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service, which protects all current and former U.S. presidents, as well as Israeli leaders when they visit the United States. Carter, who brokered Israel's first peace treaty with an Arab neighbor, Egypt, signed in 1979, met Israel's largely ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, on Sunday. But Israel's political leadership, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, steered clear of the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Joe Torre on Greg Maddux

I’ve always had a lot of respect for guys who just say, ‘Here it is, and if you beat me, you beat me.’ That’s the way he’s always gone about his business,” Torre said. “You don’t have to throw the ball 95 miles an hour to be a successful pitcher. I mean, I grew up in the big leagues with Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette and those guys who relied more on command than on blowing people away.

“A lot of times Maddux will beat you with his reputation,” Torre added. “Sometimes, hitters go up there trying to look for too many things. But he’s always going to give you a pitch to hit. The thing is, he has the knack of reading hitters’ body language. It seems every time you take a pitch it’s a strike, and every time you swing, it’s not. He just doesn’t throw the ball straight—and he’s got the guts of a burglar.”

I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!

 i could feel the buzz for AC DC growing in the air/atmosphere..i've been saying it for months that people are begging for some AC DC

 

and its now confirmed.. it ain't just me.. its happening folks!....  radio is responding

http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2008/04/it_started_a_ye.php

 

relevant highlight:

 

At Classic Rock, AC/DC (And The '80s) Gain Current-cy

Entry by Sean Ross

It started a year ago with AC/DC. The client was an upper-demo Classic Rock station that verged on Classic Hits. But they'd thrown a few more AC/DC songs in the test this time and suddenly we were staring at an AC/DC song that wasn't "You Shook Me All Night Long" on the first page. Everybody knew that "You Shook Me" had become an all-ages party song staple at weddings and bar mitzvahs, no longer considered edgy in any way. But "Highway to Hell" hardly seemed to have become that.

Since then, we've seen a pretty wide spread of AC/DC songs start to come back strongly in Classic Rock music tests - sometimes five or six titles with fairly similar scores at a given station. And while that band has had a renewed cachet lately -- used heavily in TV commercials and channeled by multiple newer acts for several years now - their graduation from peripheral act with one mass-appeal song to a more mainstream artist is just one indication that the boundaries of Classic Rock might finally be shifting a little.

More of my jibber jabber:

 

the point of edison research's piece seems to be that "classic rock" is finally expanding its boundaries..and some more classic classic rock stalwarts such as the rolling stones may be a bit played out..read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions..

 

i want to think that what we are seeing is people are beginning to reject the crap indie pussy no balls music movement typified by pansy bands- i will not bother to list them we know who they are..they can be found most nights at the 930 or black cat- and wanting more rawking... we are also seeing increasing sales/market presence on the part of bands responding to this.. think buckcherry which is selling out show after show and has sold over a million copies of their last album..

 

this is great news and the only hope for rock and rolll.. bring back the booze, bimbos and drugs or there ain't much to look forward too..

 

guitar solos can't be far behind...hell the revival of hard rock as distinct from grunge could finally be on its way

 

i guess in fairness we are talking about "classic rock"..but it is interesting that you go to any dc bar on a weekend night and people are rawking out to ac dc or bon jovi.. the bands that we listened to in the late 90s have hardly had any lasting impact...

Let it Rock!!!!!!!!!! Thank you General Franco!

One of the bigger odities in the Rolling Stones catalog is the spanish release of "Sticky Fingers"!!!!!!!

I'd wanted to own one of these for a long time. It is odd because of two differences from the Sticky Fingers we've all come to know and love. Released during General Franco's reign in Spain as dictator apparently at the time government censors objected to the song "Sister Morphine."

I'm trying to imagine how this happened and I think of some overzealous young clerk at a state censorship office having some problem with a song about drugs but his english was too poor to actually get much past the title. The clerk's alarm bell probably rang when he saw the proposed LP cover - designed by Andy Warhol- and featuring a real life zipper (more on that later)and jeans with a nice rock'n'roll package.. he probably then looked at the song titles and said "Morphine"?!?!? that sounds a lot like the droga "morfina"!!!! No no no we can't have that let me earn my bureaucratic wages by typing up a little memo on that... Of course the clerk's english was likely limited or he had no problems with a song named "Bitch"! perhaps the record company submitted the translation "perra" and the clerk thought the song was really about a dog! Brown Sugar didn't even have a translated song title and maybe the clerk chose to overlook that.. I guess the idea of "brown sugar how come you taste so good..just like a black girl should.." probably gets lost in Spain...Come out of the woodwork clerk! Time to cash in!

Anyhow as the story goes the Spanish government objected to the use of the song "Sister Morphine" and the Stones or their record label replaced it on the spanish release of the album with their cover of Chuck Berry's "Let it Rock" which in the UK was a b-side to the Brown Sugar 3 track ep single.. the "let it rock" was recorded live at Leeds University March 13, 1971 and includes Nicky Hopkins tinkling the ivories (he of the majestic solo on Monkey Man!)... So smack dab on Sticky Finger's second side instead getting the slow and ultra depressing sister morphine you get the revved up Chuck Berry rocker! I have to say being the ultra Chuck Berry fanatic I am I always wanted to own one of these..its just a bit of a different album without sister morphine... anyhow the original pressing was in 1971 in spain and the repressing which I bought is from 1980...its tough to find these (original or repress) and most people focus on the different cover (more later) but the fact that Chuck Berry still made his way onto a studio lp by the stones in 1971 is pretty incredible!!..(Note: Chuck Berry wrote some songs under the pseudonym "Edward Anderson" which is why it reads "E. Anderson" on the Side 2 label..his full name is Charles Edward Anderson Berry)

Here's a great youtube of the Stones performing Let it Rock in 1978 at their Fort Worth concert.

Open letter to Michael Gerson at the Council on Foreign Relations

You wrote "Young Obama's strongest arguments are focused on the failures of the past. The older man, by insisting on victory, is more responsible and realistic about the future."
How is it realistic to insist on "victory" when you don't even define what victory is?

It is precisely the term "victory" that is unrealistic and the ones employing it are the unrealistic ones! Wake up or we will be in Irak for no good reason bleeding ourselves dry for 30 plus years!

"Realism" would be to ask what "victory" exactly means and whether its achievable instead of simply stating "we must win!!!".. realism is to proclaim we won and skiddedle out of there- responsibly and in a measured manner of course- so that we can focus on the real challenges facing our nation. Realism is to accept what is self-evident to the eye willing to look!

Wake up Gerson! You are showing yourself to be extremely naive and "young" in accepting that "victory" is attainable. Honestly if this is the best the Council on Foreign Relations can do these days you guys might as well close up shop because all you did in your article is repeat the same old tired conventional "wisdom" and we know where that "wisdom" got us....

best,

serge in dc
ps remember "young" can be penetrating (einstein was young when he had his breakthroughs and so are most people when they make their mark) while "old" can be ossified... i don't know you but you're looking rather "old"...

Barack Obama is dead on

i will say that i have been saying what obama is essentially advocating for a few years now.. the great mistake vis a vis irak was not so much going in as the failure to simply declare victory once we got rid of saddam and just plain leave..

the world could have laughed all they wanted but we would have been rid of saddam - who by no means was our friend- and spared ourselves unecessary loss of blood and treasure not to mention creating a breeding ground for terrorists..without our long term continued massive presence there its hard to imagine that al qaeda would have given two farthings about the place..

morton kondracke- by no means a genius i readily admit- sums it up in these words:

Judging by his agile performance at Tuesday's Iraq hearings, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) now is opting for the famous George Aiken formula from Vietnam days: Declare victory and get out.

Or, rather, as an update on the late Vermont Republican's 1966 idea, Obama would declare the situation in Iraq "manageable" and drastically reduce American forces -- possibly, he suggested, to just 30,000.

Of the three presidential candidates displaying their intellectual wares in questioning Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, Obama surely was the most subtle and shrewd.

Then of course Kondracke messes it up by toeing the national party line that Obama is wrong because we can't leave now! No we must stay forever! Poor Morton just misses the point of what Obama is saying entirely: if we dont' define success in a measured realistic manner we will be there until the year 2034..by that point of course the US will have been bled so dry by this continued fiasco that we'll be begging Argentina to send us soybeans at a subsidized rate so our impoverished citizens can put food on the table!

For the rest of the article check it here

Speechless about this Craigslist ad..

BUSTY CHICKS Need 2 Tickets to Friday GAME 1 CAPS FLYERS - $50 (anywhere)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: sale-636594433@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-04-09, 7:18PM EDT


Have 2 extra tickets for a couple
of busty and exciting Capitals fans?

We'll cheer louder than anyone.
And maybe let you buy us some beer.
And maybe more.




Location: anywhere
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 636594433

What Moby said!

CNN: Do you still do that? Go out to clubs every night and crawl home as the sun's rising?

MOBY: I don't necessarily go out every night, but I'm 42 years old and at this point most of my friends are married and they have kids and they have quiet domestic lives, and I'm still going out like two or three nights a week until 5 or 6 in the morning. At some point I think in the interest of dignity I should probably stop, but I still find it really inspiring and it's still a lot of fun.

New Salman Rushdie book coming out..

Allright rejoice finally we get a new Salman Rushdie book. For details go here


I hope this one is readable..lately with Rushdie- i am embarassed to confess- I have difficulty managing to make it to the end.. I know I'm not the only one!

Shelby Lynne- State Theatre, Falls Church, Virginia April 7, 2008

Last night we trekked out to Falls Church to check out Shelby Lynne. Fortunately for us the show was at the DC area's finest live music concert venue. I don't say those words lightly but the State Theatre really is perfectly designed! You can eat at a nice table or you can stand up right in front of the stage. Meanwhile the food is quite good. If they only had a bit of selection on the red wine- rather than a mediocre house red- and served ice tea it would probably be just about perfect.

Anyhow I'd never seen Shelby Lynne live although I had heard her Christmas song "Squat" years ago and its a perennial holiday season favorite. I had purchased her last album and her new album- at Barry Manilow's suggestion- consists of songs associated with Dusty Springfield and was produced by none other than Phil Ramone and recorded at Capitol's legendary Studio A where Sinatra himself put together the finest string of performances in American pop/vocal history. You want to argue about that with me? Think about it before you do!

Shelby took the stage about 9:30 with a four piece band and we heard the opening drum lick of the song that opens her new album: "just a little lovin'" and you could immediately tell that Shelby was going to put her heart and soul into the performance. This was followed by about five other Dusty songs. At one point she waved an LP copy of her new album and joked about how it had taken her 20 years in the recording business to get on vinyl and as I knew from reading an article she wrote on the Huffington Post Shelby loves them old records much like I do! Anyhow she gave an LP to a kid standing front and center and it turned out it was his birthday so he got the works: lp, signed and dedicated, KISS etc!

The version of Tony Joe White's Willie and Laura Mae Jones, live, seemed to go longer than on the record and get into more of a groove. These are the advantages of live shows sometimes. Shelby then played some of her own songs which I'm not that familiar with including the one about cornbread and ice tea. I can't emphasize enough how what we saw last night was a singer really SINGING and really pulling it from down deep. Much like the article I read about her feelings on vinyl and ipods Shelby did radiate a sense of cool. After the show her roadie was kind enough to take my newly purchased LP copy of her new album backstage for her to sign with dedication and all. Very nice! Word is Shelby will be swinging by the area again and playing the Ramshead Tavern in Annapolis so don't miss it!

Santana April 6, 2008 Merriweather Post

Santana & Derek Trucks Band April 6 2008 Merriweather Post

I like the picture where you can see "Derek Trucks" in the big screen behind him right next to him.. These two shots are from the Derek Trucks Band's set last night at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland

Congratulations to Andres Romero!

Argentina's big hope in the game of golf won his first PGA championship earlier today. In the picture he waves the winner's trophy following his victory in the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, March 30, 2008. He raked in over a million bucks for his victory! The guy is only 26 years old and you have to like the guys chances to win a major. He already proved at last year's British Open that he's got game.

Baseball is back! HALLELLUJAH!

Oh man its great to have baseball back and how could it have started any better than with the Nats walk off home run victory over the Braves tonight twenty blocks from where I type these words. I elected not to go to this game beacuse I was a bit tired today from a raging birthday party but we've got tickets to a bunch of games and I can't wait to make my presence felt at the new stadium. I will say it is high time Teddy Roosevelt win the President's race!

Thing of beauty...

Yup the original Joao Gilberto "Chega de Saudade" lp Odeon blue label almost turqoise really (as opposed to the second one with the white and green triangle). This came out in 1959 and is the LP that really kicked off the bossa nova (no folks it was not Getz/Gilberto).

FREE TIBET!

Free Tibet! We find the illegal actions of the Chinese government in occupied Tibet completely unacceptable. You going to ban this blog in China????

 

China out of Tibet!

 

Those old scratchy blue note LPs

Man I guess I'm weird but I can listen to the old scratchy blue note lps (or classic prestige lps too for that matter).... The sound is so good on these puppies and the historical significance/rarity of these lps such that I somehow can listen to them even when they are really banged up..I guess what choice do I have if I want to listen to the original lp? I can't well afford to pay $1000 and outbid some japanese dealer particularly now that the dollar is so weak its almost impossible to get your hands on one of these puppies even if you want to bid on it on Ebay... I guess I hadn't thought of it but with the dollar depreciating as much as it has its no wonder that the old jazz lps targeted by japanese collectors and dealers are completely out of reach.. still for some reason I can sit through almost any noise when listening to these old ones... I know that most people would rather listen to the clean newly issued latest remaster or even a repressing but that just ain't me.. it means something to me to have the original... that original carries a lot of history with it.. its been around for 50 years plus...Just got my hands on a few real rarities and I'll be sharing my impressions on them...

Holy cow!

Just realized this week marks the 50th anniversary of the recording of Cannonball Adderley's "Somethin' Else"! An incredible session what with the following lineup (information from www.jazzdisco.org)..

 

BLP 1595 Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else Miles Davis (tp -1/4) Cannonball Adderley (as) Hank Jones (p) Sam Jones (b) Art Blakey(d)

Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 9, 1958

1. tk.2	Autumn Leaves
2. tk.3	Love For Sale
3. tk.4	Somethin' Else
4. tk.6	One For Daddy-O
5. tk.11	Dancing In The Dark

Definetly one of those albums I can listen to whenever and still get something out of... I suppose we'll be debating the extent of Miles' role on this one (did he dominate the sessions? was it really an album Miles wanted to cut for Blue Note but couldn't because of his recording contract so he let Cannonball take the credit? My gut and brain tell me no.. this was a Cannonball date although Miles did give him a huge assist...I say that cause Miles would never have given up credit..it wasn't his style.. his style was to take all the credit whether he in fact deserved it or not (see "Kind of Blue" where he refused to give Bill Evans any songwriting co-credit..something Evans' felt jipped about til his dying day). What an incredible lineup.. I mean Miles and Blakey on the same date? You've got to be kidding me...

the Pogues at the 9:30 Club Washington D.C. Photographs March 10, 2008

The St. Patrick's day festivities started a week early this year...undoubtedly the best part of the shows was that Phillip Chevron (he of the guitar) was again with the band after a year break to deal with his health..he played well.. and he sang well during thousands are sailing (a song he wrote and that when he performed in chicago he used to plug obama as his ancestors also sailed from ireland!)...

Shane Macgowan was very with it.. more so March 10 than March 9 I thought or maybe I was less so March 10 than March 9! he even cracked a "joke" about Chevron being "back from the dead".. I saw Chevron outside the club on Sunday in tights!.. guess thats why he uses the harlequin moniker/avatar on the Pogues board when he posts...

The show ended with Fiesta and some Pogues including Shane hitting themselves on the head with so called beer pans... the first night's Fiesta - closing number- featured these perfect chorus words: "ARGENTINA", "BOCA" (my soccer club from Buenos Aires), and "MARADONA"!! priceless! what are the odds?!..no Fairytale in New York which made me glad I caught them two years ago..they played about 110 minutes..very professional..i know cause i heard the sound check from outside the club both days and they were taking it seriously...chevron cut out on the sound check to go to hotel and rest... they had a guy that looked like a guy that gets things done..sort of lock stock and smoking barrels look with a black coat that was running the whole operation including SUVs back and forth to hotels etc....no autographs of my LP as much as I tried but I knew the odds were against me..next time!.......

As you can see from the pictures Shane is filled out a bit but I think the healthier look works for him! The accordion player James Fearnley was spectacular..guess I had not realized how key the accordion sound was...the drummer sang a song both nights..Spider Stacy was also stellar alternating between singing, flute playing, bashing head with beerpan or whatever had to be done..really he is the band leader..Hope we do it again sometime! (NOte: the pictures were put up from earlier photo at bottom to last photos at the top so scroll up if you want to get a sense of the show)..oh one more thing: a shout out to Jonathan, Randy and John who made it a fun night..oh yah and rodolfo working the bar at the old common share now the Blaguard...

Apparently rock stars get a pass on the no smoking DC law... and you know what? I can live with that!

From following this election...

...you get the sense that the voters might be more ready for "change" than the media. The way the press covers the election feeds into the Clinton's (and their consultants/operatives) old politics games. Now Hillary is "lowering expectations" for Wyoming and this is covered in a manner that would lead the voter to think "Oh how smart" when all it is is just plain old politics. So they lowered expectations enough to get away with losing 11 primaries (12 if you count Veromont) in a row and that was OK but it wasn't OK for Obama to barely lose Texas (where he will end up having won in terms of delegates) and lose Ohio and Rhode Island. No, you see my friends its all about the expectations not the votes! I guess what I'm saying is that for all of Hillary's whining about the media coverage - which worked like a charm by the way- the reality is that she has the experience to play the political game the way the media and through their lens the voters expect it to be played. Its tough to effect change when your starting point is the same old crummy election process. What was Hillary's comeback based on concretely? A press corps that felt it had been unfair to Hillary, misinformation and smearing (photos of Obama in strange garb, her appearance on 60 minutes where she stated "as far as she knew" there was nothing to indicate Obama was a muslim).

 

I haven't felt this down in a while actually.

From Andrew Sullivan- pretty funny!

An "As If" Personality

07 Mar 2008 04:27 pm

Psychologist Ellen Ladowsky examines why Hillary Clinton remains so creepy to so many. I prefer Hitch's formulation: the kind of person who never wants the meeting to end. If you've ever been on a condo board, you know the type.

 

Fwd: Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour faces criminal charges for killing hawk in tree with shot

This is the kind of thing that gives human beings- and golfers in particular- a bad name.

 

Tripp Isenhour you are an asshole!

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/pga/news?slug=ap-golfer-birdkilled&prov=ap&type=lgns
 

caveat

Obama was of course required to disclose his numbers for contributions for February. What I'm saying is that disclosing such a huge fundraising month doesn't necessarily help him going forward. It does have to be spun into "I can raise this money now imagine what I can do in the general" but this is complex given McCain wants to accept public financing for the fall if Obama will do so...