Winter Olympics, eh?

The city of Vancouver in British Colombia, Canada is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. I only saw a portion of the opening ceremonies last night.  I did catch K.D. Lang sing "Hallelujah."  This got me to wonder about other great Canadian artists that could have been featured.  There are quite a few promising ones that have gone on to great careers in the music field.  I picked out a handful that span the scope and breadth of the great land that is Canada.  The first song comes from Joni Mitchell backed by The Band (most of the group are also from Canada) doing "Coyote."  The next song is from another great, Neil Young, doing "Helpless."  The song "If I Had A Million Dollars" by The Bare Naked Ladies, and they were joined on stage by the Canadian Women's Olympic Hockey team.  The next song is so moving that it is hard to put into words: "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan.  From the eastern shores of Canada's Maritimes, there comes a fiddle master by the name of Natalie MacMaster, and she is doing "Tullochgorum."  This next song is a favorite around these parts since we share the shores of Lake Superior with Canada; it is "The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot.  The last band is Canada's best rock band and one that I have featured a few times already.  This song is to all athletes trying to win medals for their countries: "One Little Victory" by Rush.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
March 30, 1973
Community War Memorial
Rochester, NY
listen here

Grateful Dead
March 31, 1973
War Memorial Auditorium
Buffalo, NY
listen here

The Big Bad Wolf

I got a chance to see the new movie "The Wolfman" early this morning right after  got off of work.  It was pretty close to the original version but much bloodier.  The R rating that this movie recieved was for violence.  This is not your romantic tinged thiller.  It is straight up scare the shit out the viewer type movie.  I offer the following song in honor of this movie.  I may have repeated it before, but it is so good: "Werewolves of London."  The next comes as an influence of the movie "American Werewolf in London"; it is "Thiller" by Michael Jackson.  This next song is a combo of Valentines and wolves.

Music for today;

Grateful Dead
 March 28, 1973
Springfield Civic Center
Springfield, MA
listen here

An Illness Not Worth Mentioning

I did something that I am not very proud of doing.  I went for a while without taking my morning medications.  I "thought" that things were going alright until just recently when I started to make some rather stupid decisions.  My leaving a particular forum was one of them.  The big purchase was another.  These things are not me in any way shape or form.  I say this illness is not worth mentioning because of the stigma attached to it.  If it was cancer or any other illness, people feel sympathy for that.  Mental Illness has none of that emotional appeal.  You probably feel that it is a something that I can get over by myself.  If I did what you wanted, I would wind up in an institution or dead.  These are my choices: get busy getting better or get busy dying.  All of this with little to none support. I do have help from the VA that I can rely on to assist me.  Maybe, it's just this particular day that is getting me down.

Yesterday, I saw the movie "American Werewolf in London." by John Landis (the director of Animal House).This was a labor of love for the film maker.  The music from the film features three versions of the same song, but they are done in very different ways.  The song is "Blue Moon." The first version is done by Bobby Vinton.  The next is Sam Cooke. The last version is by The Marcels.  What would a good werewolve movie be without Bad Moon Rising by CCR?  In the movie, the song Moondance is featured, but I can't seem to find the original.  This will have to do for now. Sorry.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
March 24, 1973
The Spectrum
Philadelphia, PA
listen here

Grateful Dead
March 26, 1973
Civic Center
Balitmore, MD
listen here

Heading To Unfettered Waters

I had been at a particular place for quite some time, but lately, I have faded into the woodwork there.  I tried to post something I thought would be meaningful only to realize that I was stepping on someone's toes.  I deleted the post completely. No one noticed that this was done.  It seems that I have disappeared totally there. This song best describes my feelings towards leaving.  That is fine, because I popped up somewhere I was lurking for a long time.  I need to watch my every move so I don't get into trouble.  I was already a help to someone.  My knowledge came in handy.  It is nice to able to help without raising a fuss about you.

I was kind of sad that football was over.  I usually go right into a major slump.  This year will be different.  This Friday will be the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.  There will be
2 1/2 weeks of all kinds of sports. Lots of stuff will be on TV.

Opening on Friday is the movie "The Wolfman."  There will more on this later.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
March 21, 1973
Memorial Auditorium
Utica, NY
listen here

Grateful Dead
March 22, 1973
Memorial Auditorium
Utica, NY
listen here

The All-American Cycle Of Misfortune

Today was the great free give away of Grand Slams at Denny's Restaurants across the country.  I went to the local one to get my share of free food.  I won't say no to a free meal.  We got some snow recently, and they hadn't plowed very well in the parking lot.  Parking spots were at a premium.  I managed to get a spot with some circling the lot.  Since the snow made the lot narrower, you had to go with the flow counter clockwise to get a good spot.  Once inside the restaurant, the great wait began.  I was by myself, so the wait was not so long.  As I was leaving, I saw a guy lose it in the parking lot trying to get to a spot.  It seemed some other drivers were going in the opposite direction and were blocking his way.  He went so far as getting out of his car, and he began to scream and swear at the drivers in his way.  He finally managed to get a spot.  I inched out of the parking lot finding opposition as I made my way out.  I saw that the guy was still raving all the way to the door.  I can imagine that the wait would just about kill him. Then having the food, he would find that quite objectionable as well.  This misery is what get when there is free food available anywhere.  It truly makes you wonder doesn't it.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
March 16, 1973
Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, NY
listen here

Grateful Dead
March 19, 1973
Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, NY
listen here

Dream Beaver

Many years ago, I had a manager tell me a story that has stayed with me.  It is so silly that it cracks me up everytime I think of it.  We were traveling from St. Cloud, MN to the Twin Cities for a trade show, and were were listening to the radio.  The song "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright comes on, so he tells me this story about some drunk girl at a party that he was at years ago. She thought the song was "Dream Beaver."  I bring this up because during the Super Bowl there was a commercial about beaver that makes it big by fiddling.  I laughed hard at the end of it when the beaver was in the hot tub with the blonde.  So, the real question is: Was the blonde fiddling with her Dream Beaver?

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
February 21, 1973
Assembly Hall
University of Illinois
Champaign-Urbana, IL
listen here

Grateful Dead
February 22, 1973
Assembly Hall
University of Illinois
Champaign-Urbana, IL
listen here

Grateful Dead
February 24, 1973
Field House
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
listen here and here
There are only two partial recordings available from this show.

Grateful Dead
March 15, 1973
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Uniondale, NY
listen here

Tragedy Averted

I read in the paper yesterday about a guy who got stuck in a grain bin from 8 hours.  It took over 100 people to free him.  He got out safely and without harm.  He is now facing charges that he violated OSHA regulations by not wearing safety harness in the bin.  Here is a link to the article.  Apparently, there have been a few deaths in recently years on family farms from this kind of accident.  Why would I bring this up?  I used to work in a grain elevator.  There were little to none of these safety measures that were talked about here in this article.  Every day was crap shoot for your life.  It was hard, cold, and dirty work, and the pay was lousy.  It was the only work I could find at the time.  Maybe this is why I have such little regard for my own life at times.  I like the song "Cumberland Blues" for the reason that it best reflects the working man in the hardest places on earth.

I am off to a friend's house today to watch the Super Bowl.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
February 19, 1973
International Ampitheater
Chicago, IL
listen here

Jackie Greene
The Grateful EP
download here