Baseball Season 2010

I am slow for the beginning of Major League Baseball, but with it being only a week old and many games to play, it is still the right time to give it's due.  Here in the great state of Minnesota we are trying so hard to be PC.  We have taken up the cause to eliminate the culture of hate by having high schools relinquish their old names that had to due with Native American slang to something whitewashed. If that was done in MLB, Cleveland and Atlanta would be the most effected.  One of them could adopt the bat as a mascot.  They could have a celebrity endorsement of the highest magnitude with the following sign:

What is a talk of baseball without some great tunes? First on deck is a song that I have played before, but it is still a good one "Centerfield" by John Fogerty.  The next batter up is "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen.  For the literacy minded, there are a few pieces of renown.  The first up is the famous "Casey at the Bat."  There is another point of view to the story told from the visiting team.  It is called "Casey at the Bat (Road Game.)"   In case you need a refresher about the scorecard, here are Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" that will straighten you out.   We will end this with  a piece that was written by David Gans that ran originally in the Official Book of the Dead Heads called "Grateful Dead concerts are like baseball games."


Music for today:

Grateful Dead
October 16, 1974
Winterland Arena
San Francisco, CA
listen here (not the original recording that I listened to)

Grateful Dead
June 7, 1975
Bob Weir's Studio
Mill Valley, CA
"Blues Ruffs"
studio sessions for Blues for Allah
listen here

Violent Femmes

I have been doing some cleaning today, and I found a CD laying in a pile of stuff.  I happens to be by the band Violent Femmes.  They are originally from Milwaukee, WI which is the land of motorcycles, beer and "folk-punk."  One of my favorite websites is offering some live shows which I am taking downloading.  Here are some great tunes by this band that had the opportunity at one time to open for the Grateful Dead.  The first is "Blister in the Sun."  The next is "Gone Daddy Gone."  This is some of the music that was real big when I was younger.  I would go to parties, and these would be played all the time.  This next song is a pivotal one for me back in the day.  It says it all: "Add It Up."

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
September 11, 1974
Alexandra Palace
London, England
listen here (not same recording that I have)

Yes
MusikLaden Live
German TV program
DVD
This is a short DVD originally broadcast in 1969 and 1971.  This is great early Yes.  I got it as a Christmas gift years ago, and I finally watched it.

The Last Waltz
Blue-Ray disc

Big Old Dragons

Today was a day of enlightenment.  I saw my therapist, and I came up with some solutions to what I have been feeling lately.  A big part of it was that I was not med compliant.  This would make sense to a lot of my strange thoughts of late.  I am just glad that I did not follow through on any of it.  The course of action is to continue to eat mindfully, take my medications as directed, and get out for a walk now that the weather is better.

This afternoon I saw the movie "How to train your Dragon" in IMAX 3-D.  It was done really well.  The 3-D effects put it over the top.  So in my style, I will honor the movie in song.  The first is the famous tune "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul and Mary (R.I.P. Mary Travers).  The next song is by Flight of the Conchords "Albi."  The last song is by Queen with them doing "Dragon Attack."

Music for today:


Cabinet
April 3, 2010
River Street Jazz Cafe
Plains, PA
cabinetmusic


New Riders of the Purple Sage
February 12, 2008
Capital Ale House
Richmond, VA
listen here (put in New Riders of the Purple Sage into search engine and look for date)

Poked And Prodded

I had to go to the hospital today for a ultrasound of my kidneys.  During a routine exam a while back, they found cysts in my kidneys.  So, they are keeping an eye on them to make sure that they don't become dangerous.  I won't know the results for some time.  If it is bad news, I am sure that they will let me pronto. At least, I would would hope so.  So as alway, here is a song for the occasion, "Industrial Disease" by Dire Straits.  The other song that comes to mind is "Down with Disease" by Phish.

Music for today:

Robert Hunter
May 11, 1997
Palace Theatre
New Haven, CT
listen here ( put Robert Hunter in search engine and look for date of show)

Marin County Bluegrass Festival
April 27-28, 1974
Golden State College
San Rafael, CA
information about this recording

Classic Crime Film from 1932

When the salute to Oscar was happening on TCM last month, I managed to recorded a most excellent film. You would think form the title that it would not be so, but it was nominated for best picture.  The film was "I am a fugitive from a Chain Gang."   Out of all the crime dramas I have ever seen, this movie is by far the best of the lot.  It has also the greatest ending as well.  Here is the trailer for it.  So to honor this movie, I have found some suitable songs that fit the occasion quite well.  The first one is  Sam Cooke doing "Chain Gang."  The next song is by The Pretenders doing "Back on the Chain Gang."  I found another song that flows in the same vein, but when I hear it, it should really go out the the families and friends of the coal mine disaster in West Virginia.  It is "Working in a Coal Mine" by Lee Dorsey.

Music for today:

 Blueground Undergrass
September 25, 2008
Smith's Olde Bar
Atlanta, GA
listen here  (put the name of the band in the search engine and look for date)

Timbuk 3

Earlier today, I was on a mission to make an improvement to someone's involvement to the infrastructure of the world wide web.  The only problem was that it would involve an entire families connection.  So, I had to ask how they want to proceed to get it done.  I patiently listened to the the other people, and I found that their answers were more satisfactory than mine.  So with little investment, the problem was solved and everyone is happy with the results.  On the journey to the computer store, I happened on the song "The Future So Bright, I have to wear shades" by Timbuk 3 that were an Alt-Pop band from 1985.  I remember buying their first album and being really impressed with it.  I found out that the albums are out of print.  On the B side of the previous song, there was the tune "Life is Hard."  Whether they were partial to cats or dogs, they wrote the song "Facts about Cats" that pretty much explains it all.  I will end this exposure to a great American band with the song "B Side of Life." 

Music for today:

Led Zeppelin
May 14, 1973
Municipal Auditorium
New Orleans, LA

 Mickey Hart's Mass Drums
April 20, 2008
Green Apple Festival
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA

Easter Rising

This day is special for the obvious reason, but in Ireland, it has a very special one.  Back in 1916, 2000 brave patriots took a stand for independence against the British.  Many were killed and jailed.  Those that were jailed found themselves executed for their crimes against the state.  What happened though spurred a changed in the hearts of their countrymen towards nationalism and independence.  The only problem was that in order to get what they wanted they made a compromise.  That is why Northern Ireland exists.  It is still under Britih control.  If you think that the war on terror has made a dent in the troubles there, I was in Londonderry and saw a stong police presence on the streets.  They had found a pipe bomb in a car.  That was in September of 2009.

Now for something much lighter.  Many years ago, I ran across an album called The Easter Tapes.  it was a collection of recordings of Steve Goodman playing on a live broadcast of Vin Scelsa's program on WNEW-FM out of New York City.  Here is "City of New Orleans."

Music for today:

The Contribution
April 1, 2010
Bluebird Theater
Denver, CO

Vince Welnick
January 17, 2002
BB Kings
New York City, NY
"Beatle Jam"