Short Films

There is a category at the Oscars for Short Films Live Action and Animated.  I had seen these awards given out for many years, but i have never once seen any of the nominated films.  That was until today.  Our local art house cinema was showing these flims as seperate: one was for live action, and the other for animation.  I had to say that all of the films were fantastic.  My favorite for Animation are: "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" (It's an Irish telling of the classic tale.  It is very funny); and "Logorama" (It's from France).

The Live Action films were great.  Three out of five are strong contenders for this award.  The movies "The Door", "Kavi" and "The New Tenants" are very strong in this field.  The film "Miracle Fish: has an ending that is too shocking, and I feel that most of the voting block would turn away from it. 

Overall, I very please that I did this. I can't believe that it took this long to enjoy this part of the Oscar celebartion.  So when Sunday rools around and thay make the announcement for these films, I can say that I know what they are talking about for once.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
September 17, 1973
Onondaga County War Memorial
Syracuse, NY
listen here

A New Song For A Bad Problem

Just when I think I got the perfect topic for today, I find something that trumps it big time.  There is a band from Los Angeles, CA via Dublin, Ireland that I really love. The band is Flogging Molly.  The leader is from Ireland who transplanted himself to California. I will feature alot of their music in a few weeks on St. Patrick's Day, but this song is a new one that I can personally relate to the meaning of it.  The song is "Punch Drunk Grinning Soul."  It is about a guy that commits suicide after suffering from depression.  The song is also dedicated to the millions that suffer from Post Tramatic Sress Disorder. There are over 7 million that are afflicted.  Some are from war, and others from tramatic events such as rape.  The hope is that they recieve the help they justly deserve.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
September 11, 1973
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, VA
listen here

Grateful Dead
September 12, 1973
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, VA
listen here

Grateful Dead
September 15, 1973
Civic Center
Providence, RI
listen here

Close Ties to the Winter Olympics

When the Winter Olympics started, I did an all Canada salute to the games at the beginning of the opening ceremonies.  One of the videos that I had chosen was "If I Had A Million Dollars" by The Bare Naked Ladies.  It has the Canadian Women's Olympic Hockey team joining them on stage.  They won the gold in the game against the U.S. team tonight.  I offer that video in honor of their victory. 

The men's hockey semifinal is tomorrow.  I found out that friends of my parents have a grandson on the squad for the the U.S.A. I believe the guy is Erik Johnson.  He is an alumni of my high school. Good luck to them as they go for the gold.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
September 7, 1973
Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, NY
listen here

Grateful Dead
September 8, 1973
Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, NY
listen here

From Austin, TX via London, ENG

I recently found a song that I've been searching for a long time.  It was used as the theme for the music program "Austin City Limits" for many years.  I did find another version that was taken from the 2nd annual Willie Nelson BBQ.  It was rowdy with a naked blond woman to boot. They must have taken that down for obvious reasons.  The song is "London Homesick Blues" by Gary P. Nunn, and it can be found on the album "Viva Terlingua" by Jerry Jeff Walker.

But that is not what I came to talk to you about.  I came to talk about The Rolling Stones.  They put out a great album back in 1978 called "Some Girls."  There is a track on it that anwsers the previous song.  It is "Far Away Eyes."  They have put out other tunes that are just as good.  From the album "Exile On Main
Street", I offer the tune "Sweet Virgina."  For some more main stream Stones tunes, the next one should have been covered by The Grateful Dead or any other of the many post-Jerry bands: "2000 Light Years From Home."  The song "Dead Flowers" came to me by way of the New Riders of the Purple Sage from "Home Home on the Road." That is where I first heard it.  Sometimes the need to just plain rock out comes into play, so that is where the tune "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" satisfies so completely.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
August 1, 1973
Roosevelt Stadium
Jersey City, NJ
listen here

Grateful Dead
Wake of the Flood Outtakes
search under Grateful Dead right after 8/01/73

Miles Davis
Black Beauty (Japanese Import)
2 CDs set recorded at Fillmore West April 10, 1970
His band opened for Grateful Dead for four dates. With this import, I now have three out of the four dates.

BK3
February 24, 2010
KPFA Performance Studio
KPFA-FM
Berkeley, CA
I streamed it online from their website.  I did donate to the station during the marathon.
They will archive the performance for two weeks.
listen here


A special shout out to a couple that I know that are celebrating their 48th wedding anniversary.  May the heavens continue to bless your union.

Doing the Cultural Thing

What does a person do on their day off from work other than sleep in?  I took myself to the Minneapolis Art Institute to see what was hanging.  I like the Impressionist painters the best (who doesn't?), so I went and took some snap shots to share with you.  The photo on top is a work of Van Gogh.  Some of the work that they have at the muesem is on loan, and they won't permit patrons from talking photos because of copyright laws.

This paiting is classic in the sense that it plays on the eyes and the sense of sight.  Please look closer to the painting. What do you see?

The painting above is called "The Clockmaker."  I just like the cubist style and machine like quality of the painting.  I need to go back to the MIA for further explorations in the wonderful world of art.  I have a great eye for it.  I just wished that I had the skill to bring forth great visons of imagination.  The paintings shown above are from photos that I took.

Music for today:

Pert Near Sandstone

Their new CD "Out On A Spree."

website

My first exposure to the band was when they opened for Railroad Earth on 9/21/06.  I recorded them, but I never got it up on the Archive.  There is a recording of that show plus others.  They are worth seeking out.  Pert Near Sandstone is a fun band in concert.  they have lots of energy.  They have a clogger who I have witnessed going nonstop for the whole show.

Grateful Dead

June 17, 1975

Winterland Arena

San Francisco, CA

listen here

Jethro Tull

August 15, 1976

Los Angeles Coliseum

Los Angeles, CA

put into search engine Jethro Tull and look for date

Billy Joel

Recently, I joined Facebook, and I am lookiing at all many people that I used to go to school with 30 years ago.  I would like to say that my life turned out just how I would like it to be, but it took some serious detours along the way.  Let's just say I took the scenic route.  One of the artists that made an impact on me during those strange days was Billy Joel.  I recently rediscovered his album "Piano Man."  There are three cuts that speak volumes for me.  The first is "Captain Jack."  The next is the bluegrass tinged song "Traveling Prayer."  The last from this fine albuim is the title track "Piano Man."  The song "Miami 2017 (I've Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" was done at the Concert for New York after 9/11.  This song came out many years before that fateful day, but it is a very fitting song that honors the city and all those that lost their lives.  I did this  next song already, but I found a great rendition of "New York State Of Mind" from the Old Grey Whistle Test on the BBC in 1978.  The last salute to the piano man is the opus off of the "The Stranger"
album in the song "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant."

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
July 28, 1973
Watkin Glen Grand Prix Circuit
Watkins Glen, NY
listen here

Grateful Dead
July 31, 1973
Roosevelt Stadium
Jersey City, NJ
listen here

Progress/Minnesotan Speech Patterns

I am including the rest of the links for the Grateful Dead shows that I started yesterday.  I am only including these because they are easy to find.  Please feel free to search the rest of post for some of the other shows.  I can found at Facebook if you would like copies of these shows just look under St. Dilbert.

I saw advertised a musical that has local appeal to the wonderful folks of Minnesota.  It is called "How To Speak Minnesotan - The Musical."  Many years ago, a great movie came out that poked fun at our accent.  This movie was "Fargo."  I would have been insulted at it, but the accents were very realistic. Joel and Ethan Coen are originally from a suburb of Minneapolis. This scene is just one of the reasons that I find dating hard here at home. Just on the fringes to the north and south of Minneapolis is where I have heard the accent locally.  Up north (anywhere outside the metro area of the Twin Cities), it is more pronunced.  I offer this piece of evidence.  It is a piece of audio taken from a station in the city of Brainerd.  The radio station in question is one that I used to work for many years ago.  I did not put up this audio. 

Here are the rest of the links:

11-14-72                           5-13-73       10-16-89
11-15-72                           5-20-73       10-19-89
11-17-72                           5-26-73       12-31-89
11-18-72                           6-09-73
11-19-72                           6-10-73       3-16-90
11-22-72                           6-22-73       3-18-90
11-24-72                           6-24-73       3-19-90
11-26-72                           6-26-73       3-21-90
12-10-72                           6-29-73       7-16-90
12-11-72                           6-30-73
12-12-72
12-15-72                                               3-28-93
12-31-72                           6-30-74       9-20-93

2-09-73                             3-19-77
2-15-73
2-17-73                             12-01-79
2-19-73
2-21-73                             3-30-80
2-22-73                             4-01-80
2-24-73 partial set 1           5-02-80
2-24-73 partial set 2
3-15-73                             5-07-84
3-16-73
3-19-73
3-21-73                             9-18-87
3-22-73
3-24-73                             7-18-89
3-26-73                             7-19-89
3-28-73                             8-06-89
3-30-73                            10-08-89
3-31-73                            10-14-89                         
4-02-73                            10-15-89


I did not include today's shows.  They are as follows:

Grateful Dead
July 1, 1973
Universal Amphitheater
Universal City, CA
listen here

Grateful Dead
July 27, 1973
Grand Prix Racecourse
Watkins Glen, NY
listen here