In somewhat of a holding pattern
Streamload Blog
Site Update
June 25, 2007
Filed under: Streamload News — Bowman @ 3:24 pm
Starting tonight at 9PM Pacific Daylight Time until the late hours of Friday night, June 29th, the site will be unavailable. During this period we’ll be performing major upgrades which will improve the performance of the site. This will ensure a much improved user experience. We apologize for the inconvenience and assure you that’ we’ll have the site back up as soon as possible. Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog for the latest updates on site availability!.
Thanks for your continued patience and support. Any questions, concerns, or feedback should be sent to support@streamload.com.**********
yeah, that's what I think too. All this downtime better damn be worth it.
It would kick ass if I knew how to set up a different host. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. MediaMax is (usually) good, but things like this piss me off, not to mention they're sort of expensive.
Anyway - sorry - check back tomorrow....
Labels: no music
Well, I thought about posting
I’ve noticed I tend to get lazy when I do a Monday post. This has happened the last couple of weeks – I’ll put something up Monday, then next thing you know, it’s Friday and I haven’t done anything all week. I used to be good about at least posting on Wednesday, but lately I’ll think, “Well, I just posted, I can’t think of anything that sounds interesting to post, so I’ll wait for some inspiration.” Or procrastinate or whatever.
As I was writing the above, I launched my browser and was getting set to upload some music; instead, I got this message from Streamload (the brains behind MediaMax, my file host):
Starting tonight at 9 p.m. PDT, until the late hours of Wednesday night, June 27, the site will be unavailable. During this period we’ll be performing major upgrades, which will improve the performance of the site. This will ensure a much improved user experience. We apologize for the inconvenience and assure you that we’ll have the site back up as soon as possible.
I realize today is Thursday, but the site seems to still be "performing major upgrades."
So, I suppose that’s that for posting tonight. I have a RapidShare account, but it's a hassle to download from (45 second wait and no multiple downloads if you don’t have an account). I won’t subject you to that.
Just, uh, tune in tomorrow and I’ll sample some stuff from the Private Parts soundtrack.
Labels: no music
Emily Easterly
I had intended to post something related to a post over at The Smudge of Ashen Fluff, but I don’t seem to be getting around to it. A couple of days ago they put up the
audio part of the White Stripes’ June 18 appearance on the Conan O’Brien show. Jack and Meg played “Icky Thump” and my new favorite White Stripes song, “Effect and Cause.” During the latter, the Stripes sat in the audience, Jack on acoustic guitar with Meg accompanying him on tambourine. Awesome appearance. And the sound quality of the recordings is very good.
Moving on.
I was at the Web site for
Churchill’s Pub earlier today, while I was supposed to be working. Churchill’s is about the closest thing Miami has to a hardcore, dive-ass, rock and roll bar and I was looking around to see if anything interesting is coming up. I noticed on their splash page, I think it’s called, a link to some live recordings by someone named Emily Easterly. I couldn’t link to it at work – we’re blocked from accessing any sort of “questionable” material, which includes audio downloads. Or even streaming audio, but I’m getting off course here.
The Churchill’s page described not her music, but instead said she was a “gorgeous redhead.” OK, so they had my interest.
While I couldn’t access her music, I could read the press clippings on her Web site. The
Miami Herald said she had a “Chrissie Hynde edge to her Kate Bush laments” and
The Village Voice described her music as “dark indie folk fading fast through gritted teeth.”
Curiously, Ms. Easterly still had my interest. When I got home I checked out some of her music - the live songs on Churchill’s site and some of the samples on her
own site. If you’re in a winding down type mood, end of the day, having a drink and being mellow, her music works. I also like where the
Seasons Never Change album title comes from (I’m going to make you find that on your own).
Her vitals: She grew up in Richmond, Va. and picked up her first guitar after hearing the Beatles. Emily graduated with a degree in classical guitar from the University of Miami’s School of Music. While still in school, she released two albums,
Assembling Emily in 2001 and
Cole the following year. Among the influences she cites are Cat Power, PJ Harvey, and early Liz Phair.
Now that you are acquainted with Emily Easterly, check out her music. If you’re in the right mood, you’ll really enjoy it. And yes, she is a gorgeous redhead.
Slow Motion Blink.mp3 Miami.mp3 untitled live track.mp3 recorded 2/18/2003 at Churchill’s PubLabels: indie, new stuff
Dancing Barefoot
Today’s post comes from the “Lost in the Corners of Apt. 104” category.
In the late 80’s some record company marketing genius created a 3-inch CD, which was supposed to be the digital replacement for the 7-inch single. There were some problems: “Record labels never settled on a suitable package,” according to
cd3music.com. “While playable on many audio systems, some hi-fi stereo systems / compact disc players required a snap-on adaptor to turn them into a standard 5-inch CD. Because of this, 3-inch CD singles never sold very well.”
A sucker for novelty, I fell for the gimmick and bought exactly two of these little disks. I thought I had long ago lost the adapter, but while cleaning up some things today, I found it. I’ve never actually used the adapter in anything where the CD goes into a slot (i.e. my computer), so I wasn’t sure how it would work. I could picture it jamming and never coming free. But I tried anyway. And I’ll be go-to-hell if it didn’t work!
The first of these two little singles is U2’s “When Love Comes to Town” from 1988’s
Rattle and Hum album. Along with the album version and a remixed version of the title track, the single also contains a remix of “God Part II,” and a cover of Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot.” I believe the single was issued first in the 3-inch format, then later as a traditional 5-inch disk. And if you’re interested, “When Love Comes to Town” charted as high as number two in the U.S.
Dancing Barefoot (Patti Smith cover).mp3 When Love Comes to Town (live from The Kingdom mix).mp3 God Part II (the hard metal dance mix).mp3Labels: rock, singles, U2
"Drink Drink Drink Drink! Die Die Die Die!"
While we’re on the subject of
psychobilly, I was looking around the Internet for something a day or two ago and, as sometimes happens, I got sidetracked and never found what I was looking for. I did, however, find something I didn’t know about.
The Dead Hookers’ Bridge Club is a rock band. Not a big deal, you say? Well, they’re a rock band from South Florida. Miami, to be exact. And not a turntable in sight. To me,
that’s a big deal. I’ve been unblissfully (is that a word?) ignorant for two years about any sort of South Florida rock music.
I vaguely recall reading DHBC’s name in
Rolling Stone's “Smoking Section” column earlier this year, but I don’t remember what it was about. Anyway, looking around their
Web site, I found some music to sample. And you know I’m all about the free samples, whether on the Internet or in the grocery store aisles. I gave the music a listen and really liked what I heard. Especially coming off that Cramps post where I was spinning that type of music anyway. In that spirit, I thought I’d gather the songs and share them, hopefully promoting the South Florida rock scene – such as it is.
From the
Atomisk Records press page, here’s the DHBC bio:
The Dead Hookers’ Bridge Club is a three-piece rock and roll band based out of Miami, Fla. Its members, Ace Roller, Jack Switchblade and Dr. Johnny Thunder, met in a bar in the high desert outside of Flagstaff, Ariz., and set out to make the loudest, gnarliest music ever to fall on human ears.
Since the Bridge Club’s inception in winter ’04, the band has won many fans of their high-energy, liquored-up live shows. Their debut EP, Fast Cars, Stiff Drinks, Loose Women, released on Atomisk Records in May 2005, was hailed as a “refreshing, heartfelt homage to the days of pomade and muscle cars” and helped the band to develop a significant cult following in South Florida.
So there you go. Be sure to check out the DHBC
Web site and their
MySpace space for additional information. They have a show next Saturday, the 30th, at PS-14 (28 NE 14th St.) here in Miami. If you’re in or near this area, I hope to see you there. I also urge you to support local rock and roll, here particularly, but no matter where you live. There are enough turntable-spinning goofballs cluttering the music clubs. You can hardly throw a beer bottle into a crowd without hitting one.
The Ballad of Mary-Sue.mp3 Hung Like Whales.mp3Labels: garage rock, punk
Bikini Girls With Machine Guns
I’ve been listening a lot lately to a new channel on Sirius Satellite Radio: a couple of weeks ago they launched a
“punk” channel. Right now there’s no air personalities, just wall-to-wall punk rock. The classics mixed with some new stuff and a ton of things I haven’t heard in ages.
One band they’re playing fairly often is the Cramps. This band is another that seems as if they’ve been around forever. And the fact of the matter is they pretty much have.
Singer Lux Interior and guitarist Ivy Rorschach met in 1972 in California. Three years later, they were living in New York, rubbing shoulders with the Ramones, Patti Smith, and other seminal acts at CBGB.
Since then (I know I skipped something like 35 years. See the band’s
site for the complete story), they’ve released 14 albums and gone through 18 band members, with Lux and Poison Ivy being the only constants. Their latest release is 2004’s
How to Make a Monster, a two-disk “frightfest of previously unreleased rare tracks.”
The music I’ve got today comes partly from the 1989 disk
Stay Sick. The first track, “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns,” was the band’s only Top 10 single. The other song, “Jackyard Backoff,” I don’t think was released anywhere other than the “Bikini Girls” single. At least not that I could find.
Bikini Girls With Machine Guns.mp3 Jackyard Backoff.mp3 As an aside, the Cramps claim to have invented the term “pyschobilly.” According to the Wiki
entry on the word, its likely origin comes from the 1976 Johnny Cash song, “One Piece at a Time,” where the lyrics refer to a “psychobilly Cadillac.” The Cramps probably did, however, popularize the term as a musical genre when they described their music as “psychobilly” and “rockabilly voodoo” on flyers advertising their concerts.
As a further aside, YouTube has some classic Cramp clips, like
this one from the 1984 concert at the Napa State Mental Hospital.
Labels: garage rock, punk
¡Libertad!
A Monday post is kind of a rare thing for me, so you’re probably thinking there must be some special occasion or something. No, not really – I’m just up having a couple of drinks, there’s nothing on TV, and it’s too early to go to bed.
I also just got the new
Rolling Stone today, which informed me that Velvet Revolver’s first single from the upcoming
Libertad album is on the band’s
MySpace space. And even though I get constant crap from people for having a MySpace account, it’s times like these that it all pays off! (Please read that with the humor I intended...)
I am a huge Slash fan. Going back to his days with Guns ‘N’ Roses, I’ve probably seen Slash live more times than any other single musician. I’ve seen him in venues as large as the Coliseum in Los Angeles and as small as the Engine Room in Houston. Every time a great show.
I’m not a huge fan overall of Velvet Revolver, but being a Slash fan, I am looking forward to the new album, set for a July 3 release. I wish the band would take a slightly rougher approach to their music instead of going for such a slick, super group sound. The new song, “She Builds Quick Machines,” is pretty standard Velvet Revolver. There’s no new ground broken or anything. If you liked the first album, you’ll like this.
The other song I found on Velvet Revolver’s MySpace is a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Money.” This song was originally recorded for the “The Italian Job” soundtrack. I do not think I’ve heard it before. It’s cool in that Slash lets loose with the wah-wah and the talkbox, bringing a new groove to Floyd’s classic song.
Here’s the tentative track listing for
Libertad:
“Let It Roll”
“She Mine”
“Get Out The Door”
“She Builds Quick Machines”
“The Last Fight”
“Pills, Demons & Etc.”
“American Man”
“Mary Mary”
“Just Sixteen”
“Can't Get It Out Of My Head” (ELO cover)
“For A Brother”
“Spay”
“Gravedancer”
And here’s some upcoming tour dates:
DATE ............ CITY........ STATE....... VENUE
8/5/2007......Baltimore.....MD.....Pimlico Race Course
8/6/2007......Verona .........NY.....Turning Stone Resort & Casino
8/8/2007......Sturgis .........SD.....Buffalo Chip Campground
8/11/2007....Montreal.......QC.....Bell Centre
8/12/2007....Toronto........ON.....Molson Amphitheatre
8/14/2007....Mansfield.....MA.....Tweeter Center
8/16/2007....Darien..........NY.....Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
8/17/2007....Holmdel........NJ.....PNC Bank Arts Center
8/18/2007....Wantagh.......NY....Nikon at Jones Beach
8/20/2007....Camden........NJ.....Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
8/21/2007....Uncasville.....CT....Mohegan Sun Arena
8/23/2007....Saratoga.......NY....Saratoga Performing Arts Center
8/24/2007....Scranton.......PA....Toyota Pavilion
8/27/2007....Clarkston......MI....DTE Energy Music Theatre
8/28/2007....Tinley Park....IL.....First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
8/29/2007....St. Paul........MN....Xcel Energy Center
For more information about tickets, check out Velvet Revolver’s Web site
here.
She Builds Quick Machines.mp3 Money (Pink Floyd cover).mp3Labels: covers, new stuff, rock
Pull my finger... (Happy Father's Day)
Happy Father’s Day to those of you who are fathers. I’m not, and I have what has become an estranged relationship with both my father and stepfather. So today is just another Sunday for me. Read the paper, look at the Internet, nap, watch TV, etc., etc.
Like most Hallmark holidays, I thought about letting this one slide by unmarked. I like the way Scott Adams writes the comic strip “Dilbert”: he takes no notice of holidays or world happenings, allowing Dilbert’s world to exist as a separate entity from the rest of the world.
But with one eye on possibly doing something, I perused the Internet to see what was up with dads. I found a lot of weird dad humor, the sort of thing that I remembered from my childhood. Dads seem to make a lot of non-sequiturs, puns, and other bizarre comments and observations; the sort of things a mom would never say. Most are seemingly harmless. None of the comments I found indicated any ill intent on the part of the dad. No one’s father had taught them the wrong names for things, as I heard one comedian suggest he would do with his children.
Here then is a collection of offbeat dad observations I found in various ‘net locales. I recognized some as things my dad did or said when I was young. I’m sure there’s at least one thing on the list most of you have seen or maybe even done yourself.
• Whenever my dad walks past a bunch of thistles, he stops at one of them, points, and says, “This'll do.”
• Upon hearing someone in a bar/restaurant dropping glasses or crockery: “Sack the juggler!”
• Anywhere with stuffed and mounted animal heads: “It must have been going pretty fast when it hit that wall!”
• When I was kid I would ask if I could watch the TV. He always said, “Yes, but don't turn it on.”
• When my dad would see a “watch for pedestrians” sign, he'd suggest we get out and walk so that we'd get a free watch.
• Where are we Dad?
In the car.
• Dad, I'm hungry.
Hi hungry, I'm Dad.
• After watching you fall over: “Have a nice trip!”
• Mentioning to the waiter, “I'm on a special seafood diet. I see food and I eat it.”
Finally, a Dad joke appropriate for the day:The room was full of pregnant women and their partners, and the Lamaze class was in full swing. The instructor was teaching the women how to breathe properly, along with informing the men how to give the necessary assurances at this stage of the plan.
The teacher then announced, “Ladies, exercise is good for you. Walking is especially beneficial. And, gentlemen, it wouldn't hurt you to take the time to go walking with your partner!”
The room really got quiet. Finally, a man in the middle of the group raised his hand.
“Yes?” asked the teacher.
“Is it all right if she carries a golf bag while we walk?”
And a Neil Young song that may not be so appropriate for the day, depending, I suppose, on your relationship with your father. It's from a 1971 live performance in London.
Old Man.mp3 ~~~~
Mediamax is back up and the file has been switched overLabels: classic rock, current events
Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Cheated?
Day Twelve: Saturday, Jan. 14 - San Francisco, 10 p.m.
Presenter Richard Meltzer announces the Sex Pistols by riling up the audience. He incites the crowd to become something more than a passive American rock audience. He sets a tone that the band must live up to. “Skinheads suck!” he shouts. “You all suck dick!” On the outside of his jacket, Meltzer has stapled a Tampax box. (Concert promoter Bill) Graham has him ejected before he can finish his speech.
The Sex Pistols’ set is an astonishing, galvanizing show for the Winterland audience. Although many in the crowd have seen punk band before – the Ramones have already been through town twice – this opens the door to a new world. The sound is all Jones’ buzz-saw chords and Rotten’s invectives, noise and anger. There’s no hint that anything constructive could come out of this fury, just a sour-breathed, fire-breathing celebration of the power of destruction. There’s a rousing dissolution on the stage, fury bathed in white spotlights.
Yet those on the stage are neither astonished nor galvanized. The Winterland show is a blasé, seen-it-all show by a band that is tired, bored, sick. Rotten asks the sell-out crowd, “A-ha! Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated? Good night.” The answer should be yes. This show, in comparison to the Texas shows, is dull beyond belief. Anarchy is a word that slides out of Rotten’s mouth; tonight it doesn’t mean anything.... from “12 Days on the Road” by Noel E. Monk and Jimmy Guterman (Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd., 1992).
And so, in a somewhat anti-climactic flurry, the Sex Pistols came to an end.
The sound quality of these songs is much better than an earlier Pistols’ show I posted (one of the aforementioned Texas shows; the Jan. 10 performance at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. That post is
here, but I took the links down long ago). This may or may not be new to you, but I only recently got hold of it, so I figured I’d share it anyway.
The band’s infamous last show was broadcast on San Francisco radio station KSAN, which I assume is the source for this recording. There is also a video recording of the show.
God Save the Queen.mp3 I Wanna Be Me.mp3 Seventeen.mp3 New York.mp3 E.M.I..mp3 Belsen Was a Gas.mp3 Bodies.mp3 Holidays in the Sun.mp3 Liar.mp3 No Feelings.mp3 Problems.mp3 Pretty Vacant.mp3 Anarchy in the U.K..mp3 No Fun.mp3 YouTube has the
video for "God Save the Queen" from this show.
Labels: live albums, punk
Mommy's Little Blogger
Social Distortion is one of those seminal bands that seem like they’ve always been around. Actually, by SoCal punk standards, they have been around forever. Next year will be 30 years, 18 different band members, and two untimely deaths since Mike Ness, Rikk and Frank Agnew, and Casey Royer originally came together in Orange County, Calif. as part of the nascent punk rock scene there.
I’m not going to get into the last 30 years of Social D history here. If you’re interested, check out the band’s
Web site. Suffice to say they’ve made it through some hard times and can truly be called rock and roll survivors.
Greatest Hits, the band’s collection of, well, greatest hits, is due to hit the stores June 26. It includes their hit singles from 1983’s
Mommy's Little Monster through 2004’s
Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll. “ ‘Greatest hits' technically means what was good with radio,” Ness told
Sign On San Diego in a May interview.
“I think,” he also said, “we may follow this up with something that is more essential Social D. – songs that are the band's favorites.”
In addition to the hits, there is also a new song on
Greatest Hits: “Far Behind.” It sits very comfortably alongside the 10 other classic Social D songs – Ness’ gravelly voice and the rockabilly-influenced punk – the new song could have come from any of their recent disks.
Besides the new stuff, I’ve also got an acoustic version of “Ball and Chain” that I picked up somewhere. That’s one of my favorite Social D songs and I think this is a pretty cool version.
Far Behind.mp3 Ball and Chain (acoustic).mp3Labels: rock
Blogroll Update: Stand and Be Counted
It’s been a good few months since last I updated the blogroll (conveniently located to your right), so this seems as good a time as any to do so.
I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to do so, but I’ve finally added the blog often called “The Old Gray Lady” of MP3 blogs,
Pitchfork. I doubt there’s anyone one doesn’t already know about Pitchfork, but if not, you should. It’s a useful source for new music news.
It’s Hard to Find a Friend 
posts a good variety of music, something I always look for when I decide whether to bookmark a blog and return to it. Their latest post is a mix tape with artists ranging from The White Stripes to the Hotpipes and a side of Vampire Weekend.
I found
The College Crowd Digs Me when Casey left a comment on one of my posts. I usually will follow links until I get to the person’s blog. This has found me a couple of very interesting things, both musical and non-musical. I’ve also learned to start paying more attention to the hit reports so if someone links me I can return the favor. Anyway, Casey also has broad taste in music and I’ve enjoyed finding his blog. His latest post is an excerpt from an
interview he scored with John Prine.
I don’t remember how I got to
Aural Fitness, but I’m glad I did. I arrived late to the party and missed most of a musical tour of the 50 states (they just posted Virginia the other day). Something cool they do is a “Degrees of Separation” post, which is just like the “Six Degrees of Separation” game. Check out how they get
from Phil Collins to Townes Van Zandt in not six, but
three steps.
I want to make mention also of a blog my former brother-in-law recently kicked off. He’s not doing anything music-related at this point, but I said I’d mention it. He and his wife are on a road trip from the deserts of California to somewhere in Canada. Their stated purpose: “We have long wanted to see the natives of that region and observe their curious customs.” There’s also mention of a visit to some pot-growing regions, so the trip could grow very strange and terrible at any point. The trip blog is titled simply
Tripp. Homage to what a long, strange one it will be? Maybe.
Labels: blogroll
Crazy Like a Fox
OK, I’m not bitching about anything today. Just music, I promise.
I still haven’t got the iMac running, but I do have a little bit of stuff left from the last time I ripped vinyl. I’m considering getting a USB turntable if/when I ever get my tax return back. I’m just afraid this long delay means I did something wrong and when I get that letter from the IRS, instead of a check, there’s going to be some sort of bad news.
In the meantime, though, I’ve got some Keith Moon from his one and only solo album, 1975’s
Two Sides of the Moon. Referred to variously as “the most expensive karaoke album in history” and a “perfect expression of drunken self-indulgence,” this album wasn’t exactly a hit with the critics when it was released.
Rhino.com, in its review of the album, sort of sets the scene surrounding the recording:
The record was made while a newly divorced Moon was sharing the notorious former beach house of Peter Lawford in Santa Monica, CA (where JFK and Marilyn Monroe had their trysts) with Ringo, John Lennon (then split from Yoko) and Klaus Voormann. All but the latter were heavily drinking at the time, and terrorizing Hollywood clubland from the Troubadour to the Rainbow (Talk about a scenario just begging for a docudrama movie!).
He decided to record
Two Sides of the Moon after bandmates John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey both released solo albums, and Pete Townshend had begun work on what would become
Rough Mix. Moon recruited friends such as Starr, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh, and Spencer Davis, to name but a few. He opted to sing every song on the album, which lent fuel to the critical fire. He only actually played the drums on a couple of songs.
Keith was not dissuaded by the reviews and soon started work on a second album, which he never completed. Repertoire Records re-released
Two Sides of the Moon in 1997, including some of the songs Keith had been working on for his next album.
Two Sides... was again re-released by Castle Music and Sanctuary Records in July 2006 as a two-disc deluxe edition, featuring the original 10 songs plus 41 bonus tracks. In its review of the re-releases, Rhino.com notes that history has been a little kinder to Moon’s effort: “But in the end, Keith Moon's legendary/notorious record, both as originally released and in this expanded edition, is at the very least more entertaining than several Roger Daltrey and John Entwhistle solo albums combined.”
Crazy Like a Fox.mp3 In My Life (Beatles cover).mp3 The Kids Are Alright (The Who cover).mp3 
Music Note: Keith shares drumming duties with JoJo Gunne drummer Curly Smith on “Crazy Like a Fox.” Also, that song was written by Al Staehely, formerly of Spirit, but I don’t know if Spirit ever recorded it or not. Curly also handles drum duty on “The Kids Are Alright,” until the drum solo, which is Moon. You can also hear Joe Walsh on guitar in that song. Labels: classic rock, covers
"It ain't me..."
If my Internet comes back up anytime soon, I’ll post this tonight, otherwise it may be tomorrow when you’re seeing this.
There’s a little something I need to get off my chest. This isn’t a topical blog, by any stretch. Hell, most of the music I post is 15-20 years old. But there is something going on right now that just has me spinning in circles I’m so pissed.
This whole Paris Hilton thing. I know, your eyes are rolling: “Oh god, not here, too.”
Yes, here too. I follow celeb gossip probably as much as the next person, maybe even a little bit more. I love pop culture, and trivial things and people tend to make up a lot of pop culture. I’m also aware of a phenomenon known as
“push news”, wherein the mass media (i.e. television) play up short attention span-type stuff and leave the “pull news” to the written format no one reads anymore (i.e. newspapers –
and take that with the sarcasm with which it was intended). And there is nothing more short attention span than the trials and tribulations of a person who is famous for no other reason than because she is famous. So this story has taken the lead in every newscast of the past week.
To back up a minute, as a connoisseur of the pop culture, I couldn’t help but be aware that Paris was going to jail. Fine, fine, whatever. Maybe she’ll get out and do another reality series. At worst maybe she’d learn a life lesson. I was mildly annoyed when her sentence was cut from 45 to 23 days. But, again, whatever. There are certainly more dangerous criminals on which to spend those justice dollars.
So a couple of days ago when they let her out after three days – for some still undisclosed “medical problem” – I was pissed. For once I found myself in absolute agreement with the
Rev. Al Sharpton: “I think that it's both another glaring display of how race and money seem to get different treatments. There seems to be a different criminal justice system for some than others.”
I usually don’t care about stuff like this, but Ms. Hilton has lived what seems to be a charmed life. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and has never known anything different. She ditzes her way through life with her little dog and her sex tapes as if nothing else matters. If it were me violating probation, I could guaran-damn-tee I’d be cooling my heels in lockup. All 45 days, too, I betcha.
When I heard last night that there was a serious chance Paris was headed back to jail, I was overjoyed. No justice, no peace. Then this morning when I read she was
back in the clink, I actually cheered out loud at my desk at work. In my opinion, there is no one more deserving of this comeuppance. I sincerely hope that she’ll use this time to reflect on the arrogance and shallowness of her life.
The other thing that has pissed me off about all of this – and now I’m guilty of it as well – is the media play this is getting. Well, actually I’m no sort of official media; I’m just using my small forum to air my views (whether that makes it OK is up for debate, I suppose). Today when I was at lunch, the TV was tuned to Fox News, everyone watching breathlessly as if Fidel Castro had finally died (it’s a Cuban café).
Now that Paris is back in jail, I hope everyone can just let it go. There’s a war going on; there’s executive malfeasance going on; there’s global warming going on. This Paris thing isn’t important. Maybe sometime during her sentence, she’ll realize that, too.
Fortunate Son (live – CCR cover).mp3 Pearl JamFolsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover).mp3 STD*****
I’m working a little overtime tomorrow morning, but I’ll be back tomorrow night and post something that doesn’t involve my being on a soapbox!Labels: covers, current events, rock
I was born in a small town
I know everyone has times when a song gets in your head and you can’t get rid of it. Sometimes it’s a good song and you seek out the original. Other times it’s something so horrible you want to pull your eyes out. A few years ago, I spent an all day bike ride with R. Kelly’s “Ignition” going through my head:
Now gimme that toot toot / And I’ll give you that beep beep... Sippin’ on coke and rum / I’m like so what I’m drunk / It’s the freakin’ weekend baby / I’m about to have me some fun.”
Ninety miles of that. I couldn’t shake it.
Anyway, my point, and I do have one, is that John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” has been in my head a lot lately. I think I can attribute this to a couple of reasons. Like the song says, I was born in a small town. I moved away, for good, about 10 years ago. I went from a town with a population of about 30,000, to Houston, Tex., where there are just over 2 million people. From there, I came to Miami a couple of years ago, where the population is roughly 400,000 people.
I don’t miss the small town, with its gossip and drama and its being way off the traveled path of, well, everything. I do miss the small town friendliness, though. A lot of Houston wasn’t bad, despite its size. Most people there were somewhat friendly and helpful. The first thing I noticed in Miami – and still haven’t gotten used to – is how utterly
unhelpful most of the people are.
Last year some time, I went back home to see some family and friends and had occasion to go to a local credit union where I still maintain an account. I have to admit I was really taken aback when someone greeted me at the door, asked how they could help me, and actually
did help me.
Don’t get me wrong. I would never move back. There are a lot of advantages to living in a large city. I just a lot of times miss that small town attitude.
So that’s why this John Mellencamp song, from his 1985 album
Scarecrow, has been in my head lately. I’ve been thinking a lot about that small town attitude and what it is that makes strangers in some area friendlier than those in other areas.
While I ponder that, I’m going to post not only “Small Town,” but the title track, “Rain on the Scarecrow,” as well. The reason I picked this second song is that I love when, at about the two-minute mark, Larry Crane’s guitar explodes into feedback just before he goes into the solo. Every now and then I’ll hear a couple bars from a song that strike me just right and I’ll dig that song forever. But that’s another post.
Small Town.mp3 Rain on the Scarecrow.mp3Labels: rock
The Big One Year Party
The party’s already begun in Apt. 104: Champagne, supermodels, international celebrities – everyone’s dropping by to wish Licorice Pizza the best on its first birthday. A rumor circulated last night that a certain jail-bound heiress was supposed to make an appearance, but that hasn’t happened. Yet.
Seriously, my little blog’s actual kick off date was June 4 last year, but that’s a Monday this year and I have to work, etc., etc. I started Licorice Pizza without much fanfare, just a tentative test posting. I wasn’t even sure how to create links, so there was a giant learning curve. I’m actually still learning how to do things and I tinker with things little by little. The important thing is that I’m still having fun and will continue to blog as long as it remains fun.
Thanks to the people who tune in regularly and especially to those who leave comments. I noted when I started that there are plenty of blogs who never get read. While I do this because I enjoy it, it’s more enjoyable knowing I am sharing some of the music I enjoy with real people.
So... thanks!
~~~~
My iMac is still down, so my repost post won’t happen – at least for a while. Maybe next year! Instead, I’ve got a live performance from Metallica. The show was recorded Oct. 6, 1996, at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England. Several years ago (I don’t remember if it was before or after the Napster controversy), Metallica made available for free on their Web site recordings of several live shows. I grabbed three of them, if I recall correctly. This is the only one I still have all the tracks from.
Ironically, and I say that because of the Napster business, Metallica still offers several shows for free and for purchase at the
LiveMetallica site. MP3 downloads are $9.95; FLACs are $12.95. There are probably a dozen or so shows for free.
“This is the next logical step in a process that began back in 1991 when we first implemented the ‘Taper Section’ at our shows, where our fans were encouraged to bring in their own gear to record the show, and then take home their very own ‘bootleg’ of the concert they had just seen,” Lars Ulrich writes on the site.
Irony duly noted.
This show was recorded during the
Load tour. The setlist would change a little from night to night, but generally drew heavily from the
Load disk. There are 14 songs on this recording, about two-thirds of what the band actually played, according to
AllMetallica.com, which has a comprehensive list of Metallica setlists dating back to 1982. Regretfully missing are the covers of Black Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe,” and Motorhead’s “Overkill.”
Intro Jam.mp3 Creeping Death.mp3 Sad but True.mp3 Ain’t My Bitch.mp3 Whiplash.mp3 Bleeding Me.mp3 King Nothing.mp3 One.mp3 Devil’s Dance.mp3 Bass Solo/Nothing Else Matters/Until it Sleeps.mp3 For Whom the Bell Tolls.mp3 Wherever I May Roam.mp3 Fade to Black.mp3 Medley: Ride the Lightning/No Remorse/Hit the Lights/The Four Horsemen.mp3Labels: live albums, metal
Licorice Pizza’s 2007 Hurricane Preview
Last season: The 2006 hurricane season was a disappointment to natural disaster fans everywhere. Following the intense activity of the 2005 season, weather pundits predicted the 2006 season would be equally active. However, El Niño and other factors contributed to a slow season. All tropical cyclone activity ceased after October 2.
In late August, Hurricane Ernesto caused the deaths of at least seven people in Haiti and the United States. Four more hurricanes formed after Ernesto, including the strongest storms of the season, Hurricanes Helene and Gordon. However, no tropical cyclones formed in the month of October, the first time this had happened since the 1994 season. This was also the first time since the 1997 season that the World Meteorological Organization retired no storm names, usually done after a particularly catastrophic storm.
This season’s outlook: The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2007 Atlantic hurricane season outlook indicates a very high – 75 percent – chance of an above-normal hurricane season. The outlook calls for a very high likelihood of an above-normal hurricane season, with 13-17 named storms, 7-10 hurricanes, and 3-5 major hurricanes.
The prediction for an above-normal 2007 hurricane season reflects the expected combination of two main climate factors: 1) the continuation of conditions that have been conducive to above-normal Atlantic hurricane seasons since 1995, and 2) the strong likelihood of either
ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) -neutral or La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
Licorice Pizza’s opinion: There are three reasons I hate living in South Florida: 1) the high cost of living, 2) the people, and 3) the hurricanes.
And not necessarily in that order.
Opening day for the 2007 hurricane season was today. We opened the season with Tropical Storm Barry on the mound. Fortunately, the storm has only drizzled on us all day and there haven’t been any major problems. But if it’s an indication of what we’re facing this season, it is going to suck. For us. Even the insane 2005 season didn’t start this early.
Judging from the hits I get on this page, I don’t think a lot of my readers live in Florida. There are a few in the Gulf States and the Eastern seaboard, though, so you know what I mean when I say, “Give me shelter from the storm.”
Shelter From the Storm.mp3 Bob DylanRock You Like a Hurricane (live).mp3 ScorpionsRidin’ the Storm Out.mp3 REO SpeedwagonRiders on the Storm.mp3 The DoorsLike a Hurricane.mp3 Neil Young & Crazy HorseLabels: hurricanes
