Polar Bears

I don't think I've seen Polar Bears before.

Penguins

From the Zoo. I just really like penguins.

My Dad's Grave

Of course I had to visit My Dad's grave. They've added the tombstone since I was there last.

Church Next to Cemetery

This is the church next to Raimer Cemetery. Mom says it's not used today, but it's still part of the cemetery. This was where they used to go to church. Now they use it for things like Mother's Day where everyone comes to visit the graves and they have a big outdoor lunch. My Mom has spent a lot of time cleaning and working on this building in the last year.

Raimer Cemetery

This was the cemetery my Dad is buried at. Lots of Dixons are buried here, which is my Mom's family. And those that aren't Dixon are related to her in some way or another. I saw the grave of this man I remember from when I was a kid and visiting my Grandparents. He ran a little general store and was in a wheelchair. He had a tractor fall over on him and he lost his legs. He was always a nice man and I always remember stopping to see him, he was an Uncle to my Mom. It's not a big cemetery and there are some tombstones that date back at least a hundred years there.

Memphis

The next few posts are going to deal with my recent trip up to Memphis to see my Mom. Actually it's not Memphis itself, but a small town about an hour and a half drive outside Memphis. The town is called Saulsbury. I was reading a little about it when I was up there this time, about five years ago the population of the town was 99 people. It's literally a one red light town. And I think probably about half the town is related to my Mom. This is where she grew up and when we drive down the road she'll point out to me what houses are new and who lived where when she was growing up.

I couldn't have asked for better weather. I drove up on Friday night, leaving my house around 2:30 so I could get there early enough to have the day free. When I left it was in the mid eighties, as I drove farther north I kept seeing the temperature drop until it was at 60! This was August, I sure wasn't expecting those temperatures. I actually had to turn the air conditioner off. It was getting down right cold.

All week the temperature was in the mid seventies and very nice. We had a little rain, but nothing too bad. Most of the time the rain was nice, a light sprinkle which helped to keep things cool.

We went to the Zoo, which I haven't been to since I was around ten. My Mom, sister, aunt and uncle all went. Very good time. I didn't realize that the Memphis Zoo had Pandas also. I've seen Pandas now at the New Orleans Zoo and the Washington Zoo and now can add Memphis to that.

The next day we went to visit Pickwick Dam and than drove over to Shiloh Military Park. It would be very easy to get lost in Shiloh, we drove around, turning first one way and than the other, I'm still not sure how I got back to the main road.

We also spent a day on Beale Street. This day it probably rained the worst. We walked around, went to the Peabody Hotel and saw the ducks. This was Elvis Week in Memphis so there were a lot of Elvis fans around. The rain was starting to get worse so we made a short day of it and didn't manage to get down to the river or Sun Studios. Just leave that for next time.

I really didn't want to leave, but needed to get back to take care of things at home. I needed to go to the Doctor (Again) for some tests to check on how some of the medicine they have me on is doing. It was a really good time.

Number One With A Bullet

According to this site the number one song on the day I was born was Paul Anka's "Lonley Boy."



Boy, do I feel old now.

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Biographies

It's been awhile since I did a Thursday Thirteen. I used to really like doing them, trying to think of what 13 things that would go together I was going to do every week. Well, sometimes life gets in the way of things, but I thought I'd give it a another go. I've compiled 13 biographies from my library. I've tried to make it a varied list, not 13 biographies of Presidents, or Rock Stars, but a little of all sorts of people that I have books on.

1) Red Hot Typewrite by Hugh Merrill: This is a biography of John D. MacDonald, the creator of the Travis McGee series and the writer of a lot of other great books. MacDonald is often overlooked as an important writer because he was writing original paperbacks back when if you had an important book it was published in hardback. Some of MacDonald's books are as good as anything you'll find out there.

2) The Five of Hearts by Patricia O'Toole: This is a group biography. When I read Gore Vidal's series of American novels and was introduced to Henry Adams and John Hay I wanted to read more. This book is about those two and their wives, Clover Adams and Clara Hay, and Clarence King. Henry Adams is the grandson of the Sixth President and John Hay was Lincoln's Secretary and later Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt. Very interesting people. The Five of Hearts was the name of their group that they coined.

3) In Memory Yet Green, The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov (1920-1954) by Isaac Asimov: This is the story of one of the great science fiction writers written by one of the great science fiction writers. This book is only half the tale and it looks like a doorstop. Isaac liked to write.


4) Shadow Man: The Life of Dasheil Hammett by Richard Layman: Hammett created Sam Spade and wrote "The Maltese Falcon."


5) Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton by Edward Rice: Burton the adventurer, not the actor. Burton lived from 1821 to 1890. He was one of the first Europeans to discover the source of the Nile. He traveled all over Africa and the Mid East, writing of his many adventures.

6) October Sky by Homer H. Hickam: This is one of my favorite books. It tells the story of how Hickman grew up in a small coal mine town to end up working for NASA.

7) First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen: The life of the first man to walk on the moon. I bought this after just watching "From the Earth to the Moon" recently.
I know I listed two books about astronauts, but I could have listed 13.

8) The Man Called Cash by Steve Turner: The life of Johnny Cash. The only music book I included, though it was hard not to list more. Maybe next week a 13 of music biographies.

9) American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of Robert J. Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin: Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project that created the first atomic bombs. He later went on to oppose atomic weapons.

10) Wheels For the Road: Henry Ford, His Company, and A Century of Progress by Douglas Brinkley: Actually this is the second biography of Henry Ford I have. Why I don't know, I'm really not that big a fan of Ford, somehow I ended up with two books on him.

11) Pretty Boy by Micahel Wallis: A book about the life of the outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd.

12) Einstien by Walter Isaacson: I am fascinated by Albert Einstien.

13) The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe by Donald H. Wolfe: Another fascination of mine. My Mom made a comment about this while I was up in Tennessee, she doesn't understand what I see in Marilyn, she said she was before my time. But still...

I'm Back

Back from vacation and my Moms. Everything was good and Mom is doing good. I'll post more, with pictures.

Vacation Next Week

Starting tomorrow after work I am heading towards Memphis to visit my Mom. I haven't been up to see her since last summer, shortly after my Dad died. She did come down here for Christmas. I was supposed to go visit her right before I had my gall bladder surgery, but that kind of put a kink in the plans. So whenever I call her now she wants to know if I'm in the hospital again and can't come see her. I'm looking forward to getting up there. She has no internet connection up there so I'll be offline for at least part of the week. Hope everyone has a good week and I'll visit everyone when I come back.

Picture In Sidebar

I don't like pictures of me. I just never think I take a good picture. But I've finally went ahead and added one to my profile section in the sidebar. Me waiting to get into Jazz Fest from last year.

Needs Meme

I got this from Travis. It's a meme currently making the rounds. You type your first name with Needs following it in Goggle and list the first ten things that come up. Wow, I wasn't expecting that first one.

John needs.....

An Operation after Hooker bites penis.

13 bottles of water from the store. (I think I might need something a little stronger after the first item.)

A good nickname.

A Yoko.

Affirmative Action.

Help to find his late mother's ring.

A job.

Delivery Drivers.

Mitt.

An accoustical engineer.

Rare Beatles Tape Sold

A half hour tape of the Beatles talking and laughing while recording some early songs sold for $23,000. The tape also includes versions of "I Feel Fine," "I'm A Loser" and "Don't Put Me Down Like This." My question is this: can the buyer release this tape or did he buy it for his personal satsifaction?

Morgan Freeman In Accident

One of our best actors was in an accident the other day. Morgan Freeman was driving through Mississippi, probably to his home there, when his car drove off the road and flipped and he was seriously injured. He is at the hospital where the doctors say he is doing fine considering his injuries. Here's hoping that everything is fine and he comes home soon.

Breaking Dawn

The new book sensation is "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyers. It's about a teenage girl in love with a vampire and a werewolf. I honestly only learned of this series in the last few months. This is the fourth and final volume of the series. The book went on sale at midnight last Saturday and sold over 1 million copies. I really know just about nothing about this series, but am interested in all the excitement over the book. I'm glad to see kids continue to want to read so much after the Harry Potter excitement. Anyone out there read any of these books and can tell me how they are?

A Letter of Support From A McCain Fan

I have a "Obama '08" bumperstick on my car. Today when I went to my car I noticed a piece of paper stuck under the wiper blade. At first I thought it an ad for some local store as it is apt to happen, but I realized the paper was a piece of notebook paper with hand writing on it. Someone had left me a note. This is the note:

A Little Bragging

I just discovered that Amanda Shaw, the talented fiddle player and singer that I've talked about more than once on these pages has a quote from me from my Voices to hear site on her web page. Sorry I just have to brag a little, I've never had someone use anything of mine as a quote on their page before. Pretty cool if I do say so my self.

Orson Scott Card and Gay Marriage

This actually ties in with the idea of a lengthy post I've been meaning to write, and may still, about how you should react when a writer whose work you admire proves to be, shall we say less than sterling in other ways.

Orson Scott Card has always been a favorite writer of mine. His Ender series of stories are some of the best science fiction written I feel, but he recently wrote a column that can be found here that talks of the evils of gay marriage. He claims that the court decisions allowing gay marriage in California and Massachusetts is the end of democracy in America.

Should it matter what a writer believes? I know I will still enjoy his Ender books and a lot of his other work, but I fear there will always be a small part of me that thinks about this now.

More Comic Con

From CBR comes this pic of the line waiting to their badges so they could get into the con. This is from Wednesday, the preview night, which has the smallest crowds of the con.

The Best of the Runaways?

I was working on transferring more vinyl to my Ipod and was digitalizing "The Best of the Runaways." The Runaways were an all girl group from the mid seventies that played rock and roll. Two of it more well known members were Joan Jett and Lita Ford. I realized that this best of collection doesn't have "Cherry Bomb" on it. Now the Runaways were never a big band, they never had a hit single, but the one single that is probably most associated with them was "Cherry Bomb." And this collection doesn't have it. The other songs are good, but how can they call this a best of without "Cherry Bomb?" I'm sure it's tied up with some record deal or licensing deal, but still it kind of sucks that the song isn't on here.

CCR Reissued Again

Some of the best music ever made is coming back in Sept. The first Creedence Clearwater Revival albums are being re-released than, along with bonus material and new linear notes. These six albums, "Creedence Clearwater Revival," "Bayou Country," "Green River," "Willy & the Poor Boys," "Cosmo's Factory" and "Pendulum," form the core of some of the best rock and roll ever. And to imagine these six albums were released within a two year period, from 1968 to 1970. It's amazing to think of that, nowdays an artist has to take years and years to put out a new album and they'd be lucky that if half of it is even good. I have these albums originally on vinyl but will have to purchase the new cd versions.

Happy Birthday NASA

It was fifty years ago today that President Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, officially establishing NASA.

Miley Number One

Miley Cyrus has the number one album in the country with her new album. It's her first album without Hannah Montana attached to it.

White and Keyes on Bond

Jack White of The White Stripes is working with Alicia Keyes on the theme song to the new James Bond movie. The song is titled "Another Way To Die." This is an interesting combination.

New Dylan

Oct 7 Columbia is releasing the eighth volume of Dylan's Bootleg series Tell Tale Signs. The two volume collection of rare and unreleased material will focus on the time frame from 1989 to the present. This is from the Oh Mercy album to his most recent one Modern Times. I'm fascinated by hearing what got left off the albums and some of the different versions of the songs that made it onto the albums. I'll be eagerly awaiting this one.

San Diego Comic Con

This weekend was the San Diego Comic Con. Even if you're not a comic book fan it's hard not to have at least heard of this con nowadays. It's huge. It's become much more than just a comic book convention. Hollywood trots out all their big movies for preview and to hopefully get the fans interested enough to go home and start blogging about. The last time I went was about six years ago. The attendance than was between 60,000 and 70,000 a day. This weekend it will probably be over 120,000 people a day. It's grown so big that I can't even imagine it. My first San Diego Con was back in the 80's and I doubt that there were more than 10,000 people and I thought that was a lot at the time. For some more about the Con you can go check out one of my other blogs Life in 4 colors for some highlights.

Song Missing From Yesterday's Post

I wanted to add this song to the post about my Dad yesterday but couldn't get Life Logger to work. So I'm putting it here today. It's by Alison Moorer with her sister Shelby Lynne live.

One Year Ago Today

It was a year ago today that my Dad died. I still miss him.

Peek-A-Boo

The Dark Knight

Ok, I can't give a complete review of this movie as I missed the final act (see the following post for the full story on that) but I can say what I did see was amazing. This movie makes all the previous Batman movies look weak.

Heath Ledger is just as good in the role of the Joker as most critics have been claiming. I would be very surprised if he doesn't get a nomination for an Oscar, if not a win. His Joker is evil and crazy without going so far over the top that it appears comical.

One of the things I really liked in this movie was the secondary characters, like Gordon, Alfred and Fox. The movie gave them a depth that we rarely see in movies like this. It had me wanting to see a movie with Gordon as the main character. And the relationship between Alfred and Bruce Wayne was more than just a butler and his Master.

Go check this movie out. I plan to head back soon for a second and complete showing.

The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Ok, yesterday I did something I have never done before. I got up around nine and jumped on the computer, checked out a few sites and than decided that I was going to go see The Dark Knight. I figured early in the day I wouldn't have to deal with a full theater full of people talking over the movie. I figured after the movie I would head over to Best Buy and check out any new releases that came out yesterday. (There's a clue in that sentence.)

I was enjoying the movie when my phone vibrated. I always make sure I put my phone on vibrate when I go to the movies. I hate when I hear someones phone ring while I'm watching a movie, and than worse when they answer it and start talking. I took a quick glance at my phone to see who was calling. It was work. I thought to myself, there can't be more than twenty minutes of the movie left I wonder if whatever they're calling about can wait. I decided it could. I put my phone back up.

And than it hit me! I was off Wednesday this week. It was Tuesday. (New releases of cds and movies come out on Tuesday.) Somehow I got up and believed it was Wednesday. I misplaced an entire day. I jumped up and ran from the movie. Leaving the last twenty minutes of The Dark Knight still to be seen.

I couldn't belive it. To understand the panic I was feeling you have to understand that I am never late for work. Work was calling because they were getting worried that some new medical malady had struck me down, they knew I wasn't late for work. I still can't believe I did this.

Of course once I got to work everyone had a good laugh about it. All day long I felt like I was playing catch up. I was actually less than an hour late to work.

It's terrible when the mind goes.

Bob Seger

I just finished transferring Bob Seger's Mongrel from vinyl to my computer. Bob Seger is one of my favorite artists. I thought I'd share a video with everyone. This is "American Storm" from his Like A Rock album, yes before it was a commerical it actually was a song on an album.

July 20 A Great Day In History

On July 20 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong took the first step of a human on another planet besides our earth. I remember watching this on tv when I was a kid. Everyone was gathered around the set to watch this historic moment. It's a shame that the space program has basically fallen apart. We should have continued to send men to the moon. We should have a moon base by now.

Newsradio

I've been watching the DVDs of the five seasons of Newsradio. This was a show that first came on in the late 90s and was created as a showcase for Phil Hartman after he left Saturday Night Live. This is one of those shows that grow on you. I won't try to claim it's one of the best comedies ever, but it's a nice funny show. I think the real star and glue that held the show together was Dave Foley, who played station manger Dave Nelson.

Voices to hear book Out

I know I haven't been posting very much lately, but I actually have been busy. Well, busier than normal with work and everything else. I've just published a Voices to hear book. As some of you are aware I also publish another blog called Voices to hear, about music and artists in need of more promotion. The book is a collection of the posts from the blog and some new stuff and a lot of pictures. It's done in standard landscape edition, 10 x 8 and has 116 pages. I'm going to put a link on the sidebar for anyone interested in checking it out and maybe buying a copy. It's a POD, which is Print on demand, which mean the site prints a copy only when someone orders one. Go click on the link and it'll give you a 15 page preview. I think it turned out really well.

Another Boring Health Update

The last two posts made me sound pretty depressed so I figured I better post something a little more positive. Monday this week I went to my surgeon for a follow up. She gave me those magic words that released me and said everything was fine. I'm not going to be bench pressing any small cars soon, but I can at least start getting back to normal.

Than Wednesday I had a colonoscopy. After my Dad died last year of colon cancer I figured it was the right thing to do. While I was in the hospital from my gall bladder surgery the doctor came in and convinced me. So Tuesday was spent in preparation for the test and Wednesday was the day of the test. I'm glad to be able to say it went without a hitch and I was told I am clean and good to go.

So this week has been fairly eventually and I'm glad it's coming to a close. I'm in a pretty good mood, my health is on the upswing and I'm sitting here listening to Fats Domino, so what can be so bad?

A Musical Interlude Between the Dying

It seems that I don't haven't been blogging as much as I'm used to. I'm feeling a lot better since the surgery, but still am not back to full strength. And this week I go back in the hospital for another procedure, nothing life threatening and done as an outpatient, so hopefully I won't be there for another week. But it seems that everytime I sit down to blog I'm blogging about someone dying. Some of the people I mention are just names from some famous action or cause, others even though I don't know them personally still mean something to me.

The song here is "See The Light" from a group called the Textones. The song comes from their album Midnight Mission released in 1984. The lead singer of the group is a woman named Carla Olson. At the time of its release there was a lot of hope for this group to hit it big from their record company and a lot of critics. Since most of you have never heard of the group or the lead singer you know how well that worked out. One of the founding members of the group was Kathy Valentine, who left to join a new all girl group the Go-Gos.

Carla Olson has continued to make music. She has played with a lot of other well known musicans, including making music with the late Gene Clark of the Byrds. She has three albums coming out this year, past work with her group the Textones, with Gene Clark and with Mick Taylor.

Thomas Disch Commits Suicide

On July 4th the writer Thomas Disch committed suicide. Best known for his work in the science fiction community. He was a writer of novels, but I remember him best for his shorter work. His short story "Descending" is a story of his that has remained with me long after I read it as a youth. I've always thought he was one of the better writers in science fiction. Evidently he had been depressed for the last few years after the death of his partner and lately he's been fighting eviction from his New York City apartment. Perhaps his best known work was the story "The Brave Little Toaster" which later was adapted as an animated feature.

To many readers of this blog his name is going to be unfamiliar but to me he was always on a short list of favorite writers. If you have a chance to read any of his work do it. I'm not sure how much of his work is still in print, but if you can find anything pick up his collection "The Essential Disch."

From his livejournal:

What is so tragic as the lethal blast
Of thunderbolt or .38
That turns what had been present
Into past? There he stood
And here he lies at last.
Will you not shed a single tear
For any such? Is that too much to ask?

Not much more to say except that it's a damn shame.

Happy 4th of July

Bozo Dies

Larry Harmon, the longtime Bozo the Clown died Thursday of congestive heart failure at the age of 83. Harmon was not the first Bozo the Clown. The first was Pinto Colviq, who also was the first voice of Disney's Goofy. Harmon ended up buying the name and rights to Bozo and making the Clown a household name.

Joss Stone

I was going through some old files and found these pictures of Joss Stone from Bonnaroo from at least three years ago.

Obama's Goal For The End of His First Term

From the newest issue of Rolling Stone and Jann Wenner's interview with Barack Obama:

If I haven't gotten combat troops out of Irag, passed universal health care and created a new energy policy that speaks to our dependence on foreign oil and deals seriously with global warming, than we've missed the boat.

Now that's worth electing him for.

Jesse Malin Part I

Jesse Malin is one of my favorite singers. This is part one of an interview with him, followed by Part II.

Jesse Malin Part II

Yes We Can

Up Too Late

It's two in the a.m. and I have to be up at four to go to work, but I can't sleep. My Restless Leg Syndrome has kicked in, which means my leg is kicking. I'm tired, I did a full day of work and came home exhaustive, but after tossing and turning for the last few hours I still haven't been able to go to sleep, so I'm up and on here trying to make myself tired enough to sleep.

More on George Carlin

Two pieces about the late George Carlin. Kevin Smith remembers here and Mark Evanier here.

Health Update

I figured it's been awhile since I talked about my health. (I feel like some old geezer that has nothing better to talk about but his health problems.) It's been four weeks since they removed my gall bladder. I actually went back to work last week. There were a few days there that I wondered if I had done the right thing, I was coming home from work so tired. And that was work where I did nothing really physical. No one at work will let me pick anything up, so I walk around a lot. But I think I'm doing better. I'm not going to feel better overnight, the doctor said it would take at least six weeks before I should be doing any real lifting. But even though I still get tired a lot quicker than normal, I'm able to last longer than before.

And I was at PetSmart today getting some drops for Buffy's ears when the assistant Vet leaned over the counter and with a grave voice asked if she could ask me a personal question. When I told her yes she asked me if I had lost some weight recently. I told her yes but that she didn't want to go on my diet plan. But I still felt good that I've lost enough weight that others are noticing, especially people that I don't deal with on a day to day basis.

So it's getting better every day.

Tony Schwartz

On June 15 Tony Schwartz died at the age of 84. Mr. Schwartz was the creator of one of the biggest ads in the history of advertising and the ad only ran once, on Sept. 7, 1964.

George Carlin RIP

George Carlin died on Sunday at the age of 71. The following video is probably his most famous routine. If you're easily offended, don't watch it.

The New Way To Get Your Music Sold: Commercials

It seems the new way for unknown bands or performers to get noticed and sell a lot of cds is to appear in an Ipod commercial.



I'm not going to go into a rant about artists selling out by appearing in commercials. I used to think that and still wonder about certain artists selling out a classic song to sell blue jeans or something. I don't want to see a Beatles' song hawking underarm deodorant.



But I understand the fact that for a new band to even have a chance in today's marketplace it is hard. Radio doesn't break singles like they used to. Heck, singles aren't really singles anymore.



Even older acts are getting into the act. I read an interview with John Mellencamp about why he let Chevy use his song "Our Country" for a commercial. He basically said that he wanted to reach as many people as he could with his music and the record company did virtually nothing to promote his music anymore, he would do what he needed to.



I guess in today's marketplace you have to do what you have to do in order to get your music out there. I can understand how frustrating it must be for an artist that's been around as long as John Mellencamp to put his album out and get no support for it. And if it's that hard for an established act, how hard must it be for a newcomer?



The above commercials are:

1) Ting Tings Shut Up and Let Me Go
2) Feist 1,2,3, 4
3) Jet Are You Gonna Be My Girl
4) U2 Vertigo
5) John Mellencamp Our Country
6) Willie Nelson and Ryan Adams Move It On Over

Incredible Hulk

I've been a fan of the big Green Goliath for as long as I can remember. When I first start collecting comic books he was one of those that I bought every month. For a long time I had a complete collection, save for the first six issues, of his entire run. Well I haven't kept up with the Hulk comic, except here and there, for a long time.

I'm one of the few that actually thought his first movie wasn't that bad. I admired the way that it tried to be different for a comic book movie. I think one of the biggest problems is that as one of my friends always say when I bring up this movie, "He fought a giant poodle." If they had given the Hulk a more worthy opponent this movie might not be so reviled today.

I go back to work on Monday, so this last week was my last week of staying home. It was also the first week that I'm starting to feel decent enough to get around more on my own. I decided to go to a couple eary morning movies and the new Hulk was the last one. Going at eleven in the morning on a weekday was nice, the crowd was probably no more than two dozen people.

So what did I think of the movie? I liked it. It wasn't as good as Iron Man as everyone is saying. But it was a fun movie. For fans of the comic book there are a little easter eggs scattered through out. It also included a few such highlights for the old television show. The old tv show Hulk Lou Ferrigno has a cameo and he does the voice for the new Hulk.

This is one of the movies that you don't want to think too hard about, like General Ross basically invading a college campus to capture Bruce Banner, some quick cuts that seemed to skip a little too much, but if you want a fairly good action movie this is it.

And the end is just the next step in creating the Avengers movie. (How about a movie with the Hulk and Iron Man? And as Marvel tries to tie their movies into one world is there any plans on bringing the Fantastic Four into their Marvel universe? Now that would be a great next movie, the Thing vs. the Hulk.)

The fight at the end is pretty good. The CGI on the Hulk is decent, sometimes it was better than others. For the amount of the movie I expected a little more with the look I think. Still this is all nit picking, I did enjoy the movie and will buy it when it comes out on DVD.

A Day In The Life

This is the first time ever that the song "A Day In The Life" has been played live. By the time the Beatles recorded it for Sgt. Pepper they were in the final stages of their career as a group and we no longer doing live performances.

This is one of their songs that Paul and John traded verses on the song, so here Paul has to sing John's parts as well as his own. And where does he mess up? On is own verse he forgets a lyric. This is arguably one of the Beatles' greatest songs.

In the audience was Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono.

I saw Paul five or six years ago when he did his last tour. It was a great show, with Paul doing lots of Beatles stuff alongside his own great solo hits. And he also took time in between songs and talked to the audience. He's starting what is being billed as his Last Big Tour and I'm hoping he comes this way.

For a final note, I wasn't expecting the song to morph into "Give Peace A Chance." Maybe I'm just a big softy, or you have to be a certain age, but I have to admit when I heard Paul singing "Give Peace A Chance" my eyes welled up. For my money this is the best song of its type out there. Simple and direct.

Father's Day

These pictures are from the last Christmas I had with my Dad. I drove up on Christmas Eve and was able to spend the week with him, if anyone works in retail will know how hard it is to get off at the time, but my boss knew the situation and let me have the week off. My brother and niece and nephew were there too. They managed to get there a few days before me. I left around midnight to drive up there, I knew I had to get there before too early in the morning. My Dad was like a kid at Christmas now. I remember when my brother and I were kids, waking up at six in the morning and running in their bedroom to try and get our parents up. They were always pleading for just a little more time to sleep. Now the roles have been reversed. My Mom and Dad are up at sun up or earlier, reading to start Christmas day.

I get there around six in the morning and I actually was there before anyone woke up. My niece opened the door for me and Buffy. Buffy ran in to let my niece play with her than she went looking for my Dad. My Dad was in bed and Buffy was all tail wagging wanting him to get up. By this point he had been sick for a few months, the cancer came back at the end of the summer, so he wasn't all that strong.

The picture above is one of my favorite pictures of me and my Dad. Christmas was wonderful and no one wanted to leave. Within a few months we all were back up there as my Dad went into the hospital. He got out again, but was back in before long. The cancer started out in his colon, went to his liver, lungs and brain. Sometimes he didn't know where he was, he would think he was back in the Navy.

This is my first Father's Day without him. Every Father's Day I would call him and he would act like the day was no big deal, but I could always here the pride and love in his voice. My Dad was a short man, around 5'4", but in my memory when I'm with him I'm always looking up at him.

New Indy Movie

I went and saw Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull the other day. This is one of those movie series that have become more than a movie, it's part of our culture. I remember watching the first Indiana Jones movie in the theater and being blown away by it. The movie was such a great action movie with such a great main character. Harrison Ford was perfect in the role of Indiana Jones. He brought a humanity to the character that is easily missing in a lot of action heroes.

The sequels came and while everyone wants to argue they weren't as good as the first, they more than held up their own. Than after the third one...nothing. For a decade and half the rumors swirled that a new movie was coming. The three principals, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford, all had to agree on the script and it seemed nothing was going to bring all three to an agreement.

Until now. Finally they've all decided to dust off Indy's hat and bullwhip and get back into the game. Of course there's such a buildup for this movie that there was no way it was going to be as good as everyone expected. It's kind of like the fourth Star Wars movie. Everyone was waiting for it so long that there was no way it was going to live up its expectations. Except unlike the fourth Star Wars movie this movie doesn't suck.

Remember the first three movies were based on the old serials from the 40s. In updating the movie they based it on movies from the time period where it was based, the 50s. And in the 50s what were the big topics for the B movies of that time. Commies and aliens from outer space.

I think one of the best things they did was age Indy. Indy isn't a young man anymore. The years have passed, hints of past adventures are dropped throughout the movie. And bringing back Marion Ravenwood, Karen Allen, was a stroke of genius. The movie introduces a new character, a younger character that is being primed to take over the series.

So is the movie good? Yes, I think it holds up the tradition of the series in grand style. When Indy picks up his hat and you first seen him in silhouette, I could feel the thrills running up my back.

Before they continue with the new "Indiana" series I wouldn't mind seeing another one with Harrison Ford.

Supernatural

For some reason I don't read too much about this show, but for my money it's one of the best shows out there today. Supernatural has created its own history and lore, much like Buffy did. The two main characters are really good. Most of the music on the show is 70's power rock, the type of music that Dean likes and listens to in his black Impala as they are driving down the highways looking for the next mystery. In the show, this song "Renegade" was one of the best uses to fit into the storyline that I've seen in just about any show. It worked so perfect.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

I just finished reading the oral biography of Warren Zevon I'll Sleep When I'm Dead by his ex-wife Crystal Zevon. Warren was never a big hit in the music business. His biggest hit was "Werewolves of London." But he was one of music's most literary writers.



Reading this book can be leave you feeling frustrated and even angry at Warren Zevon. He was not an easy man to like. He was an alcoholic and suffered from OCD. Even in the later years of his life when he stopped drinking he was described as not an easy person to get along with.

This is a fascinating book. Before Warren died he told his former wife to write the book about him, but to be sure she included all the ugly parts. She does that here. But it's a book the will break your heart. Reading the last part of the book, after he had been given only months to live, was hard reading.

During his last months to live David Letterman devoted an entire show to Warren Zevon, who was a frequent quest and sat in with the band many a night,and his music. The following video is from the appearance.

Susan Cowsill: Drunken Angel

Health Update

Well, I'm into the end of my second week sitting home so I thought I'd give everyone a health update. I've been to all three of my doctors in the last week and they all pretty much say that everything is good. In fact next week should be my last week at home. After that I can go back to work. So I'll have been home only three weeks after having an open surgery, which from what I've read is pretty good. You can end up being home for up to six weeks. My blood pressure is a little high, not to be alarmed at they said, but of course they want to do some blood work and other stuff just to be safe. The staples are out and everyone says the incision is healing nicely. Now I just have to remember not to pick up anything too heavy. I actually feel pretty good, still get tired after being up too long. I ventured out today to the book store and was out for about two hours and got home and laid down and fell asleep. But all in all I have to say things are going pretty good.

Dona Nobis Pacem

I don't think I can say it any better than this:



There never was a good war or a bad peace.
- Ben Franklin

You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.
- Indira Gandhi

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
- Jimi Hendrix

One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.
- Moshe Dayan

Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.
- Omar Bradley

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.
- Thomas Jefferson

We must shift the arms race into a 'peace race'.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Interview with Susan Cowsill

This actually is over on my VOICES TO HEAR page but since Susan Cowsill is my Artist of the Month over here I thought I'd reprint it here.

Susan Cowsill is one of the biggest undiscovered talents out there. I really cannot believe she is not bigger than she is. The interview is a format that I use over at VOICES TO HEAR where I ask artists the same six questions. I've gotten responses from such artists as Brian Stotz, Toby Lightman, Shannon McNally and a bunch of others that are on the site now, with more to come.

Now to the interview:

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

Yes, it was MY first performance on the Ed Sullivan show three years after seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan!


2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?

My all time favorite women singer/songwriter is Karla Bonnoff,,,,,I also love U2,,,,Wiskey Town featuring Ryan Adams...But my all time fav record is Richard Harris singing Jimmy Webbs music


3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

Playing for the first time at our home town bar The Carrollton Station in New Orleans after having been evacuated for four months. We were the first band to come home, and I believe the first band to play at the club since the storm. It was the most meaningful night of music I have ever played to the most loving and "in need audience" I have ever played for in all my years as a preformer.


4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

Absolutley it can,,,It has! Just look at Bono,,,Farm Aid....George Harrisons Bangledesh.



5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Oh my god!!!!! How hasn't it changed it? The industry I mean. My music?? Not at all. My music, all of our music is unchangeable , it is simply music, our emotions expressed in lyric and sound,,,,,,yeah, thats my answer.


6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Oh this is an easy one, but can I be more than one pair??? Ok. First I am a pair of desert boots with the laces up the front, then I am a pair of fluffy but raelly worn in slippers, preferably velvet outside and lamby fur inside and lastly and mostly,,I am no shoe at all.

Speaking of Ani Difranco

I think Ani Difranco is one of the most talented singers/songwriters out there today. She refuses to be categorized. She runs her own record company and puts out her own albums. She didn't put out a greatest hits album until she had already recorded something like 17 albums. (That's one of my pet peeves, an artist releases a greatest hits after they've only had two albums. Get some music behind you before you start picking your greatest hits.) Her live albums are some of the best live albums ever as far as I'm concerned. Her more recent album Reprievewas one of those albums that just gets better with every listen.

Utah Phillips Dies

May 23 Utah Phillips died of congestive heart failure. I first heard Utah when Ani Difranco did an album with him. For more about his life and music click here. Not many readers will probably of ever heard of Utah Phillips and in the end that's the shame.

Susan Cowsill: Just Believe It

Dick Martin of Laugh-In Dead

I missed this, I guess being in the hospital means you don't see some things, but on May 24, 2008 Dick Martin died. He was the co-host of Laugh-In. I remember when I was a kid watching the show and not really liking it. I was pretty young at the time it came on so I was definitely not its target audience. It moved so quick and a lot of it I didn't catch as they tossed one joke after another. But it was a popular show and made their careers.

After Dan Rowan retired a few years after the show Mr. Martin went on to directing other television shows such as The Bob Newhart Show.

Bo Diddley Dies

Bo Diddley is reported to have died today at his home in Florida of heart failure. He was 79. He can be rightly be classified as one of the originators of Rock and Roll. He never attained the status of Chuck Berry and some of the other early Rock Pioneers, but his influence is still felt years later.