The Shallow End

Rest in Peace, Michael

I don't mind sharing the limelight with Michael Jackson on my birthday. Really, I don't. I never liked being the center of attention anyway. It's funny to hear the various channels announcing the changes in tv coverage resulting from the preemption...things like Days of Our Lives are being moved around so as not to be missed. Never mind that REAL news has been preempted for the last two weeks in order to cover the MJ story. Not that I'm bitter. It's just an observation. And it's not preempting my birthday because I could turn it off any minute and walk out. Really, I could. I could stop watching if I wanted to.

Hi, my name is Gwynne, and I'm a closet Michael Jackson fan.

Actually, as I sit here watching the memorial, I am truly moved for the first time since his death. Maybe it took nearly two weeks of non-stop coverage for the feelings to finally sink in, or maybe it's the moving tributes offered by some at this service, but I have finally been beaten into submission. Okay, I agree, Michael was a pretty good performer. But honestly, I believe that he is in a better place, at long last, at peace. His work here on earth was done. I believe the 50-concert world tour might have killed him and his legacy. In his own words (if we are to believe half of what we hear), he was "done" and "better off dead." I don't say that out of hatred, or anger, or meanness. I truly believe that he is in a better place now. His story is at once magical and tragic. It's been a troubling story to watch play out, but one so fascinating that few could look away.

If I disregard the last quarter of his life, I have to admit that I was drawn in possibly as much as anyone who grew up with him. Well, almost. I remember exactly when and where I purchased my first Michael Jackson album, Off The Wall, and feeling like it gave me a certain "street cred" at the time. It was one of the earliest albums I purchased (just to give an idea of how young I really am...either that, or how late I was to the party). I remember owning several 45s by the Jackson Five in my extensive (roughly 10 records) collection. Who can resist those early performances, fronted by Michael as a young boy with an amazing voice, a cute smile and some pretty amazing dance moves even then.

I like that the memorial does in fact feel like a funeral service (even a "revival" as the media seems want to call it), a celebration of family and faith, and not "just" a Michael Jackson concert (anyone else wonder if the casket would be levitated before this show was over?) although there have been some nice tributes sung by the likes of Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder. But really, after the powerful words of others, we could have done without Brooke Shield's trite narrative of her relationship w/ Michael at the age of 13. Some things are better off left unsaid.

The most poignant words were those spoken by his daughter, Paris, at her first public appearance ever, "Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine and I just want to say I love him so much." I pray for his children, who are the only real victims in this sad story.

Rest in Peace, Michael Jackson.

Labels: Family and friends, In Memorium, Music

posted by Gwynne @ 1:46 PM 4 comments

Grandpa's Hands

It's something I never gave much thought to, until I was staring at Julian's hands one day and realized...he has his Grandpa's hands.* Or more specifically, Grandpas thumbs. I'll have to see if I can pin Grandpa down for a shot of his thumbs, so as to properly document the similarity. Aside from being grateful that he inherited Grandpa's strong Croatian genes, I never really looked for, or noticed any family traits, until that moment. Regardless of whose they are, babies' hands are the cutest.

Labels: Baby Spartacus, Music

posted by Gwynne @ 8:22 PM 4 comments

Dancin' With the Gub'ner

This Close *

The gub'ner and all of her friends were among those who danced the night away, tripping over our feet and falling in our laps. She's a good dancer, for what it's worth. She was not the one who tripped or fell. But her friends did. I think Marcia is a friend of Kathleen's (they were wearing matching bracelets(!) and talked before and after each set). Marcia performs at Kathleen's fundraisers on a regular basis, or so I hear (even if I had been to one of her fundraisers, I would not admit it ;-). Knuckleheads is not Marcia's destination when she comes to Kansas City, but we sure do appreciate that she makes the time to put in a performance at this venue. She's a treasure.

Signature Leg-Crossing *

* Please excuse extremely poor quality camera phone pics. They're all I have.

Labels: Music

posted by Gwynne @ 7:21 PM 1 comments

Fantasy Band Redux

As I was correcting my links in the last post (it's no wonder the important things in life don't always get done), I tested them and couldn't resist taking up this latest iteration....


Band name: Pastured Poultry (Heh. I'm thinking the genre has to be Old Hippie Rock, no?)

Album name: You're Choking To Death (isn't this is how Mama Cass died? Hmmm, I guess not)


And the album cover art (courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/rayfujioka/) which I believe to be a photo of "magic" mushrooms. Psychedelic Hippie Rock, then:






That was fun. :-)

Labels: Music, Quizzes and Memes

posted by Gwynne @ 2:19 PM 4 comments

New Music Release!

Updated to fix the links and add a few new ones at bottom of post...it's interesting that all of the assorted albums I've seen so far look like honest to goodness albums...just goes to show the very eclectic nature of the music biz, I think. Fun stuff.

Via Eric of Fire Ant Gazette, via Dustbury.com comes this meme of serious consequences (when you have finally had it up to HERE with election "news," take a break and play along at your leisure. Build your own band, album, and album cover, using the vast resources of the interwebs...chosen at random.

Here are the steps:

For the name of your band, go here (Wikipedia) and take the name of the first article that appears on the screen.

For the name of the album, go here (The Quotations Page) and gather the last four words of the last quote on the page (you might have to hit refresh or something to get a new page of quotes to appear)

And finally, go here (Flickr) for the album cover art and pick the third picture on the screen.

If you would like, follow Eric's directions to find out how well your band's album is doing on the Billboard charts via this random number generator (Kalamunda Road's new release is # 38 on the charts!) and what genre your band messes around in, just for extra good measure. Kalamunda Road is classified as "Drone." Drone? I don't think that really captures the spirit of Kalamunda's driving beat. I'd call it Nomadic Grunge.



Coincidentally (or not), Kalamunda Road "provides access to Perth City and Midland," from whence this meme derives.

The band's album name comes from the full quote by my favorite children's author, A.A. Milne:

"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear," from Pooh's Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne (I modified the gender to fit the image).

Wise words. :-)

See also others' new releases:

Jim at Serotoninrain
Beth at And Then I Woke Up
Brian at Beanquest
Foo at Random Synaptic Misfire
Verging on Pertinence
Whisky Prajer

Labels: Music, Quizzes and Memes

posted by Gwynne @ 11:22 AM 6 comments

Weekend Randomness

I now own a camera phone. I never intended to, but when replacing our daughter's lost phone, I agreed to give her my old phone and I would take advantage of the free upgrade to whatever phone that might be (the one who loses her phone gets the old crappy phone...that's how the family plan works, right?). I was surprised to learn that the free upgrade was a RAZR camera phone (which our daughter thought was quite cool and tried unsuccessfully begging for it...she even had to show me how to use it). So, armed with a new camera phone and a new set of nails, I took my first snapshot (ahem...blame Eric).

Without a flash, the camera phone is mostly useless, but I'm sure it will come in handy for capturing special blogging fodder. Also, while the phone was completely free, the only way to transfer the photos to my PC was to pay $30 for a special USB cable and driver software. But that seemed more palatable than paying monthly internet access fees for the cell phone. I still haven't bought into all the functionalities offered by the new generation of combination cell phones/MP3s/PDAs.

And in other technology news, I just returned from a trip to the Geek Squad at Best Buy to inquire about the lack of sound (again) on my year-old computer. Last time I lost sound, it turned out to be a faulty mother board. I fully expected to learn that the mother board needed replacing again and that I would be without my computer for a couple weeks. I prepared myself by backing up the entire hard drive and toted my computer off to the Geeks. After a good thorough search of the computer's settings, the Geek felt around the outside of the computer and laid his hands on, what was that? A volume control dial? You mean, like in the old days?!? *cough* *mutter-mumble* Oh, that. Yes, I see. So if I just roll it under my finger like this, the sound goes up and down? Okay, thank you very much. I'm sure glad I paid for the 3 year "service" plan. What a dork. 8-}

And in entertainment news, we once again went to Knuckleheads last night, this time to see the great double-necked-guitarist Junior Brown. The top part of the guitar is a normal 6-string guitar; the lower half is a steel slide guitar, normally played on one's lap. You might recognize his voice as the narrator in the Dukes of Hazzard film, or the soundtrack of Me, Myself & Irene or Spongebob Squarepants. I hadn't heard much about him but the show was sold out and we enjoyed the show. He has a great voice and I can't say I've ever seen anything quite like the "guit-steel." I tried to use my new phone's video capabilities to capture a moment to share, but this is all I got. The sound bites on iTunes or Amazon are much better.

And last but not least, I still don't own any of the Harry Potter books. But I'll be eager to learn whether Harry dies or not. Just because...

Labels: Books, Music, Project 52 (Weekly Random Photos of Life)

posted by Gwynne @ 7:41 PM 12 comments

Siberian Surf Rock?

Um, yeah...ever heard of The Red Elvises? I had not, until last night. Some friends, feeling the need to "repay" us for sharing my unused ticket to see Martina McBride bought tickets to last night's showing at Knuckleheads. I'm almost embarrassed to say I had a good time. The Red Elvises (I insisted on calling them Elvi) proclaim to play "Siberian Surf Rock" ("Kick - Ass Siberian Surf Rock" if you must know). They are something of a melting pot, a la B-52s, Surfaris and Russian folk. Wikipedia refers to them as "Indie Rock." All I know for sure is that these folks like to party, and they do put on a good show, especially for the men (their keyboardist is a cute, petite little thing who heats up the dance floor with her dance moves, while never missing a beat on the keyboards or squeeze box, whichever she happens to be playing). Here's a link (Rocket Man) to one of my video clips, although there are much better ones out there...here...and here.

And for something completely different, last weekend, we saw Tab Benoit at my insistence. Tab is much more my taste in music and a fine guitarist at that. Here are a couple clips from that show...I apologize in advance for the very poor quality, but if you like his style at all(Zydeco/Blues/Swamp Blues/Country/HOT! ;-), then I'd suggest you buy up all his CD's. We first saw him when he was just getting started in the mid-1990s and I, for one, fell in love instantly. He's grown into a fine, fine musician. That's all the review I have time for, but I hope you'll check him out.

Labels: Music

posted by Gwynne @ 2:13 PM 5 comments

Watermelon Slim and The Workers

In addition to cleaning out the kitchen junk drawer, my sock drawer and my daughters' Barbie bins (don't ask...I have no idea what fit of anal retentiveness took over this weekend, but it's all good now...it's over...all of the Barbie paraphernalia is gone and what remains are these partially clad, partially bald, sometimes headless, icons of beauty...I even spent the extra time dressing them just for you)...


...anyway, in addition to that, we managed to squeeze in another blues concert at the now legendary Knuckleheads blues and honky tonk bar down in the barrio, sitting right on the train tracks. The constant toot of train whistles in the not-so-distant background is the perfect backdrop for the blues. As soon as I can figure out how to upload my 197 MB video file using dial-up, I'll share with you more of the experience. For now, a photo will have to suffice.


The guy playing the dobro slide guitar (left-handed even) is Watermelon Slim (Bill Homans). The other guys are The Workers. In addition to playing his slide guitar using old airplane-sized wine bottles as slides, Watermelon plays a mean blues harp and has a solid grasp on the blues. And he has a blog. During an intermission, I had the chance to talk with him a bit while he signed my CD and asked him about his involvement in MENSA. He says his IQ has taken quite a dive over the years, that back in the 70's he tested at well over 200. Over the years it has steadily declined and now measures around 142. I guess hard living will do that to a man. He seems to have turned a corner though, perhaps following a severe heart attack in 2002. He's working for God now and it shows. I could tell in just a few short minutes that this man has a lot packed in that blue-collar, truck driving, blues playing head of his. I was intrigued.

These words from Steve Leggett, at the All Music Guide, where he is reviewing Slim's 2006 album that was nominated for many coveted blues music awards, capture Watermelon Slim better than I could:

"The sound on this record (which was produced by Chris Wick, who also plays bass on one of the tracks) is simply huge, and yet Slim's songs and field holler vocals keep it all appropriately intimate, making this release one of the best contemporary blues albums in years. On the surface Slim (his real name is Bill Homans) seems always to be working on the edge of parody, but this ex-truck driver who is also a member of MENSA (and owns several university degrees) is after bigger things. His passion for the blues makes these songs pulse with a gospel-like joy and intensity, and his new band the Workers gives him the kind of raggedly perfect backdrop to make it all slam home......This remarkable set is capped off by the closing "Eau de Boue," which outlines Slim's passionate devotion and commitment to the blues, and since he is perhaps the smartest ex-truck driver to ever sing this stuff, Slim sings it in French, maybe just because he can. For Watermelon Slim the blues isn't so much a musical genre as it is a calling, and beyond that, a shot at redemption. This guy is the real deal, and this is a great album."

Labels: Music

posted by Gwynne @ 9:18 AM 4 comments

And The Beat Goes On...

Oh, I'm sorry. If that title just put images of Sonny and Cher in your head, I apologize. I was thinking about how quickly time marches on (it's another Friday already!!) and about music at the same time.

I have recently discovered XM radio, thanks to GM for the free trial service for a couple months. And with that, I've recently rediscovered Ruthie Foster. She recently released a new CD and if you've never heard of her and enjoy the sounds of old soul mixed with folk, a bit of blues and gospel, I think you might enjoy Ruthie. One of her songs, Beaver Creek Blues, is very funky and gets a lot of airplay on XM 74 (and includes "insect wranglers" in the credits ;-) but "Mama Said" is a great gospel revival spirit tune and there's a lot of diversity on this latest CD. She's on the Blue Corn Music label, out of Austin, TX and they have a nice write-up on her as well.

An aside: There are certain products and services where the best marketing is to simply let people try it, and XM is certainly one of those services...I was not a believer, until I tried it...now, I'm hooked and will renew my contract at the end of the month. XM radio may not be all commercial-free like they say (I mean, if you have to listen to XM "advertise" their other channels, isn't this still advertising?), but it's non-stop music or talk of whatever style/genre you want, when you want, and it doesn't change even if you're driving across country.

My favorite channel right now is "Bluesville" ("exit 74 on the XM dial"). But I've recently discovered "Hear Music, Sound of Starbucks." I will admit that I don't like the implications of there even being a "sound" of Starbucks. I'm already of the opinion that Starbucks is sucking money out of our pockets faster than we can put it in, standardizing and globalizing what was once almost a fingerprint of a community, its local coffeeshops. I really do prefer to keep my money local if given an option, but Starbucks is just so darned consistent. And good. So then, because of their market domination, the "Starbucks Experience" includes not only great coffee, a great ambiance and (hopefully) great service, but also great music and entertainment of all types (movies, books, etc.). It somehow reeks of a steamy game of Monopoly. Or a rapidly growing cult of latte drinking, hip music listening, Mermaid followers. But once again, I think Starbucks has got it right and the Hear Music channel is something I flip over to once in awhile. So now, when will they offer up free wi-fi??

Labels: Music

posted by Gwynne @ 4:50 PM 5 comments

Blues Man

Today, in the mail, I received this! I was shocked, frankly. When Don sent the postcard to Brian and Jennifer after they lost their dog, Carla, I cried. This postcard made me laugh a little. As Don mentions in his post, there is humor in the blues, surprising as that sounds, and I could not agree more with his sentiment that it is this ability to laugh when the world around you is crumbling shows guts and determination and frankly, the ability to "hand it over." Visit Don's site, Idle Minutes. It's worth every minute. While I'm at it, I'm adding him to the blogroll.

And thanks, Don! :-)

Labels: Art, Music

posted by Gwynne @ 7:30 PM 2 comments

Yet Another List

I seem to be on a List roll lately. I like lists, I must admit. But really, I don't know what purpose this one serves for anyone but me. This was something that I saw on another site earlier in the year and thought I'd give it a go sometime. At the end of the day, after racking my brain for a list of concerts I have been to, I realized that, for me, it was more of a walk down memory lane than anything. Every concert represents a special occasion, with good friends and good music, truly some of the most relaxing and enjoyable times of my life. I left off the names of lesser known bands we have listened to at various festivals around the country but tried to list the headliners. I'm sure there are still some lesser knowns on this list, along with some real doozies. *cough* Tommy Twotone *cough* I'd be curious to know if there is any overlap among my "readers." Maybe we were even at the same concert?

Al Green (Kansas City)
Albert King (San Luis Obispo, CA)
BB King (6-7 times, Monterey, CA, KC, SLO,)
Beach Boys (KC)
Bonnie Raitt (Santa Barbara)
Bruce Springsteen (KC)
Buddy Guy (KC)
C.J. Chenier (Eureka Springs, AK)
Charlie Musselwhite (SLO)
Cher (KC)
Chubby Carrier (Eureka Springs)
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (New Orleans)
Coco Montoya (KC, SLO)
Creedence Clearwater Revival (KC)
Elvis Costello (NOLA)
Eric Clapton (twice, KC)
Etta James (Monterey)
Isaac Hayes (NOLA)
J. Giles Band (SLO)
Jackson Browne (Santa Barbara)
James Cotton (SLO)
Jimmy Thackery (Topeka)
Joan Baez (SLO)
Journey (KC)
Keb Mo (twice, KC, ES)
Koko Taylor (SLO)
Kool & The Gang (Paso Robles, CA)
Little Feat (Seattle)
Little Richard (KC)
Liz Story (twice, Santa Barbara, SLO)
Loverboy (I know. I KNOW!) (Salina, KS)
Marcia Ball (twice, NOLA, KC)
Maria Muldaur (ES)
Michael Hedges (Santa Barbara)
Neville Brothers (Monterey)
Original Low Riders/fka War (KC)
Otis Rush (SLO)
Pat Metheny (3 times, KC, Santa Barbara)
Queen Ida (Santa Maria, CA)
Reba Russell (ES)
Red Hot Chili Peppers (SLO)
Riders of the Purple Sage (PR)
Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers (SLO)
Rory Block (twice, SLO)
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (SLO)
Shadowfax (SB)
Susan Tedeschi (KC)
Tab Benoit (ES)
Taj Mahal (SLO)
Three Dog Night (PR)
Tommy Twotone (Remember "867-5309"?) (Los Angeles)
Van Clyburn (my first concert) (Manhattan, KS)

And while this list seems fairly long to me, I challenge Darko to the task. My guess is that his list would fill a book (but he may not remember them all). ;-)

Labels: Music, Quizzes and Memes

posted by Gwynne @ 1:16 AM 5 comments

What's That You Say?

Yet another meme from John at Blog Meridian. The job this time is to "list the songs on your iPod (or wherever you keep your collection) that begin with the 5 W's (Who? What? Where? When? Why?) and How?"

What I found interesting is that the songs which ask the most questions seem to fall into the blues and gospel sections (as does most of my collection, so my list is fairly long). It seems Johnny Cash may have asked more questions than any other musician. As well he should have. At least by the end of life, he seemed to have found a few of the answers. We can all find some comfort in that, I think.

So here are the "the questions I walk around listening to:"

Who? (This doesn't seem to be the most pressing question, does it?):

Who’ll Stop the Rain, CCR
Who Drove The Red Sports Car, Van Morrison
Who Said That? Dave Brubeck
Who Was Calling, Rory Block
Who You Are, Caedmon’s Call

What?

What’s a Girl To Do, Marcia Ball
What’s New, Billie Holiday
What’s the Buzz, Andrew Lloyd Webber (Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack)
What a Friend We Have In Jesus, Amy Grant
What A Little Moonlight Can Do, Billie Holiday
What A Wonderful World, Chris Thomas King
What Are You Doin in My Life? Tom Petty
What Child is This? (5 versions…my favorite by Taheny & Reid, a Celtic variation)
What Do You Hear In These Sounds, Dar Williams
What Is Not Love, Derek Webb
What is This Thing Called Love, Dave Brubeck
What Keeps Mankind Alive, Tom Waits (surprising this guy doesn't have a few more questions, isn't it? ;-)
What Would Jesus Do? Chris Thomas King
What You Gonna Do, Beau Jocque
What’s New, Charlie Musselwhite

Where?

Where Are You, Monty Python (Spamalot)
Where Are You Now, Queen Ida
Where Could I Go But To the Lord, Elvis Presley
Where I Go, Natalie Merchant
Where No One Stands Alone, Elvis Presley
Where The Soul of Man Never Dies, Johnny Cash
Where The Streets Have No Name, U2
Where We’ll Never Grow Old, Johnny Cash
Wherefore and Why, Gordon Lightfoot

Why? (Surprising there aren't more of these)

Why Blues, Chris Thomas King
Why Didn’t You Call Me, Macy Gray
Why Do I, Marcia Ball
Why Phillis Walts, Dave Brubeck
Why Women Cry, Marcia Ball
Why, Charlie Brown, Wynton Marsalis
Why? Tracy Chapman

When?

When A Child Is Born, Ricardo D’Amato
When He Reached Down, Johnny Cash
When I’ve Learned Enough To Die, Johnny Cash
When I Feel the Sea Beneath my Soul, Taj Mahal
When I Grow Up, Michelle Shocked
When I Paint My Masterpiece, Bob Dylan
When I Take My Vacation in Heaven, Johnny Cash
When Love Comes To Town, U2 & B.B. King
When Magnolias Bloom, Chris Thomas King
When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer, Eric Clapton & B.B. King
When My Little Girl Is Smiling, The Drifters
When Nothing Satisfies, Jennifer Knapp
When the Roll is Called up Yonder, Johnny Cash
When the Saints Go Marching In, Queen Ida
When The Saviour Reached Down For Me, Johnny Cash
When You’re Alone, Paul Asaro
When You’re Good To Mama, Queen Latifah (Chicago Soundtrack)

How?

How Big a Fool, Marcia Ball
How Could You Do It, Henry Gray
How Deep is The Ocean, Diana Krall
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us, Joy Williams
How Do You Feel, Jefferson Airplane
How Do You Know, Third Day
How Great Thou Art, Elvis Presley
How Long Blues, Eric Clapton
How We Love You, Vineyard Music
How You’ve Grown, 10,000 Maniacs
How You Carry On, Marcia Ball

Labels: Music, Quizzes and Memes

posted by Gwynne @ 11:06 PM 7 comments

Music, Art and A Soon to Be New Blogroll Addition

Last night was the Eric Clapton concert I was so excited about. It was excellent! There was a lot more electric, a lot more of his old classics than I was expecting, but I enjoyed it (his sit down acoustic set was still my favorite part of the whole show). The fact that he closed with Cocaine bothered me. But Eric is a joy to watch, casual and meticulous at the same time, gentle but powerful. He sets the bar for guitarists the world over.

I was surprised to find out that Robert Cray opened for him. I'm not a big fan of Robert Cray, but had never seen him perform live. And now, I'm even less of a fan. Technically, I suppose he sings the blues, but it is very sterile and sounds as if the songs are cut for pop radio. There's just no emotion behind the songs, not even live. That is, until he plays with Eric Clapton. They only sang one encore song together (Crossroads), but that one song gave Robert Cray a little more, I don't know, street cred or something. And I don't mean to dis old white guys, but here's an observation from last night...one old white guy backed by a solid team of black guys is much better than one black guy backed by a bunch of old white guys (Cray's keyboardist was better suited for a career as a courtroom stenographer). Just callin' it as I see it, that's all.

Meanwhile, back on the blogging front...

Here is a great article by a newly discovered (by me) blogger. John over at Blog Meridian awarded Hank a Thinking Blogger's Award and I went to check it out. As might be expected of an educator's choice in the thinking category, this post has it all: footnotes, and footnotes inside of footnotes, a bibliography, and fully cited references of all kinds, and a bit of art history, and something about naked women (which is what happens when you start talking about art history, let's face it). Plus it is just downright funny. Even if you don't like art, I think you might like to read about Hank's Blue Painting. It's worth the extra minutes to read the footnotes.

I also got a kick out of this post, partly because I like sailing (or at least the idea of sailing), but mostly because I like the word "insouciant," especially in this context.

Back to work...tick, tick, tick...

Labels: Art, Fellow Bloggers, Music

posted by Gwynne @ 9:46 PM 5 comments

The Sound Of Music

Eric has posted a link to the latest release of musical lists that we bloggers love to maul over, embolden, strike through, italicize, etc. (The Definitive 200) and then created his own excel version of the list so that we might further our analysis. Even at this busy time of year, when my blogging pretty much moves underground, only to surface in your comments once in awhile, I took time to review this list. I think most would agree that there are some egregious omissions and some ridiculous inclusions, but take a look and make that determination for yourselves.

Labels: Music

posted by Gwynne @ 9:33 AM 2 comments

We've Got Tickets!

To see Eric Clapton on April 2nd! There's something so very endearing about Eric Clapton. His music is timeless, his talent seemingly endless and his ability to communicate through his instrument amazing. He's one of my favorite musicians.

I wasn't always a fan. I remember hearing his hard living song Cocaine as a teenager and being turned off. Unlike many Clapton fans back in the 70's, I was a goody two-shoes and preferred listening to Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond and Bread. And that's if I listened to music at all. I don't think I cared much for music until after graduating from high school. Mostly I watched Leave It To Beaver and Gilligan's Island on the teevee and called it good. So to say I've been a fan from the beginning would be an overstatement. I probably didn't come to love, really love, Clapton until he released Journeyman (my first Clapton acquisition) and then Unplugged, which I think some might say single-handedly "changed the world" (to quote the master himself), or at least significantly influenced "our" preference for acoustic over electric guitar. For me, Unplugged cinched the deal. At that time, I was barely familiar with the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream or Blind Faith, all bands which benefitted from Eric's involvement during his early career. But by then, I had come to appreciate the blues and what Clapton had done to fuse blues with rock 'n roll. And it is this blues influence that I love the most about his music. From The Cradle is almost exclusively blues, as is another favorite of mine, a collection of duets with B.B. King, entitled Riding With The King.

I just love his humble stage presence and his aging voice, not to mention his musical abilities. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. He's a real gem.

This reminds me of a meme that Jaynee started but I never completed, to list all of the concerts you have been to in your life. For many of the blues festivals I've been to, it is hard to remember all of the performers we might have seen in a particular weekend, but I plan to do this just for fun. I would love to see your list if you want to participate in the meme.

Labels: Music

posted by Gwynne @ 7:56 PM 6 comments

What Are The Odds?

Today, I discovered a new used music, video game and movie store in town. It’s in a new strip mall, next to the new Starbucks with the drive-thru! I’d seen the store front for awhile (“Vintage Stock”) but thought it was a vintage clothing store and ignored it. Today I saw the whole sign and pulled in to take a look, leaving my hot latte in the car thinking I’d just be a minute. By the time I came out, I was $125 poorer and sipping a cold $4.80 Venti Pumpkin Spiced Skinny Latte. And none of this would be the least bit noteworthy if not for what happened at checkout.

First, I have a question. Is it a pre-requisite for the job in a used music store that you be an emaciated teen who suffers from severe acne and excessive tattoos and piercings? Because there must have been 5 guys working in the place and they all looked exactly alike. And you would not think that I, a middle aged professionally dressed mother of two, would have anything in common with these young fellows. But that would be wrong.

I spent about an hour perusing the entire CD collection, starting at the letter “A” (and for the most part, all the genres were co-mingled…they did have a small section marked “Jazz” and another marked “Blues” and yet another marked “Christian,” but each of these was only about 50 CDs, with very little variety (for example, the Blues section was all Ray Charles and Stevie Ray Vaughn…and one Ella Fitzgerald CD, but not any more, because I bought that one). The Christian section was mostly Amy Grant and a few Wow Worship collections. Perusing the larger collection of mixed genre music was an entertaining walk back in time to my high school days (B-52’s, Three Dog Night, Paul Simon, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, etc.) and a clear reflection of the demographics of the community in which I live…clearly a lot of middle aged, middle class white folks without a very wide diversity of musical taste. But I picked up some old favorites (including all of the above) that I once had on vinyl.

None of the CDs were actually in their jewel cases, so when I got to the cash register, one of the guys (after ignoring me for several minutes because he was busy doing something on the computer…maybe playing a video game) shouted to one of the other guys that he had a stack of CDs to be pulled (presumably from a neatly alphabetized drawer of matching CDs…ahem…you would think). So off goes the other guy to collect my CDs when I hear a song overhead that I recognize…Hey Jude, by The Beatles (this was my very first 45 ever! It’s also one of the songs on one of the CDs I’m purchasing, a two volume Beatles collection). And I wait. And wait. This is a very time consuming process (others are now lining up and getting impatient) as he opens up drawers in no particular order and I hold back the urge to jump over the counter and alphabetize everything. Twenty minutes later, he’s finally down to the last jewel case and searching everywhere for the missing CD. Finally, he goes over to the store’s CD player and pulls my CD out of the player. The Hey Jude I was just listening to was mine! I know they weren’t playing the Beatles when I came into the store or even by the time I got to the “Bs.” What are the odds that, out of the thousands of CDs in the store, these young guys, who looked more like metal fans, would choose to play the same CD that I just picked up?! Weird. This just confirms that we're all more alike than we sometimes care to admit. ;-)

And I couldn’t resist sampling something by the Squirrel Nut Zippers. This campy take-off of 1920's jazz is actually quite good imho. As is the candy.

Labels: Music, serendipity

posted by Gwynne @ 7:55 PM 9 comments

Let's Go! Ireland

Speaking of Let's Go! travel guides, my favorite travel guides (once I've looked at the ones with all the pretty color glossy photos) are actually the Moon Handbooks. These guides provide excellent and often humorous historical commentary along with the kind of "local" tips that you'll need if you want to really enjoy the local flavor rather than the sugar coated touristy flavor of your destination. Of course, no travel guide beats having a real local that you trust to give you good inside information, but I've found the Moon Handbooks to be incredibly accurate and consistently good in terms of tips on how to spend your vacation time. These are the sort of travel guides that I can read just for pleasure; they include so much more than just a list of hotels, restaurants and sights to see (and often include ways to save a few bucks which I always appreciate). Anyway, that's the travel tip for the day.

Onward...

My husband and I were watching the Travel Channel on Sunday afternoon, enjoying a tour of Cornwall England followed by Munich Germany (featuring many beer related activities). Not having time to visit either one, we did the next best thing to boarding a jet plane and crossing the pond. We drove 30 minutes west, to Weston, MO, a small quaint town of antique shops, gift shops and O'Malley's Pub, founded in 1842. O'Malley's is a wonderfully cozy, incredibly Irish pub. It is all underground, 5 rooms on 5 levels (all underground), connected by small tunnels, the dirt tunnel walls are now lined with limestone and/or bricks. The walls and ceilings are curved so that the rooms feel like vaulted outcroppings from the tunnels. The floors are also brick. Very cool setting!

Ah, Ireland. Anyone who has been there knows that the people are among the friendliest people on the planet. And everyone is familiar with the concept of the Irish Pub, a place where people gather, regardless of age, and drink and tell tall tales, and sing. There's no room for being uptight in Ireland. There's a pub on every corner and often in between. So it was with the right attitude that we took off for a short drive to Weston to sip Guiness on tap. Last week was the culmination of a few rough projects for me and I was feeling much more relaxed than I had in weeks.

Okay, enough intro...

The real draw of O'Malley's besides the ambience is the Wild Boar. The Wild Boar is a pint full of deep dark rich chocolatey Guiness floating on top of an inch or so of ginger ale. The taste combination is delicious, the sweetness of the ginger ale makes the Guiness melt in your mouth. It also dilutes the alcohol content such that I was able to serve as designated driver whilst the hubby indulged himself in 3 of the giant mega-steins of Harp's lager (well, we did end up staying over 6 hours!).

As in Ireland, the tables at O'Malley's are made for sharing with strangers. We were not lacking for strangers. Joining us at our small table were two middle aged men, neatly dressed, one even sporting an Irish wool cap. Both seemed nice enough. We exchanged perfuntory "hellos" and smiled but were slow to warm up to the fact that there were strangers sitting at our table. As the afternoon wore on and several beers had been consumed, we learned that we were sitting with the owner of the oldest local tattoo parlor and an ex-junkie (now a carpet salesman), both followers of Buddha, both heavily laced with tattoos under those conservative plaid button-down shirts. By the end of the evening we were exchanging business cards and hugs. You never know when you might need a tattoo...or carpet. 8-}

And then there was the singing. Bob Reeder was the local musician. I will admit I had very low expecations but as he warmed up the audience, he got better and the participation was at least half of the fun, especially on the limericks sing-a-long (some of which were too bawdy for family viewing...did I mention that this is a kid-friendly bar? Ahem. Bob waited until all the kids went home before he opened up the floor for limericks...our new stranger friends offered up the ubiquitous "There once was a man from Nantucket"). Bob really wasn't half bad, playing 6-string and 12-string guitars, banjo, and bagpipes, ballads and folk songs along with silly songs. He invited a couple of folks from the audience to come up and sing with him, pestering my husband and finally succeeding in getting a visiting Brit to come up and sing John Denver tunes...three of them...gah!

In replaying these videos, I think something might be lost in the translation between reality and digital re-enactment. Maybe it was the beer. ;-)

Link to the Dueling Banjo video!
(Be sure and watch this one all the way to the exciting conclusion wherein my camera falls in my beer...I was using my glass as a tripod; I can neither confirm nor deny that one of the voices you hear on the tape is mine)

Link to the Amazing Grace video!
(This was the evening's grand finale, a tribute to our soldiers in Iraq; this one brought tears to my eyes as Amazing Grace always does; the video seems only to highlight the off-note squeaks and appears very cheesy, but in real life, it was very moving...really 8-}

This was a wild day out for us and a most welcome respite. We feel like we just returned from Ireland. I'm ready to go again.

Labels: Music, Planes Trains and Automobiles

posted by Gwynne @ 12:10 AM 4 comments

Post Preview - Let's Go! Ireland

Update: I changed my post title in case anyone cares about such things...

I'm just dying to get a chance to post about our Sunday afternoon Irish pub experience at O'Malley's Pub in Weston, MO. This place has all the ambience of a true Irish pub, and the sing-a-longs to go with it. I've got video footage and everything (but I cannot upload the video until I can get to Panera's with the free high-speed wifi). Don't get too excited. There is no footage of me or my husband actually singing or anything, although Bob the singer did try very hard to get MBH up on stage to sing a Croatian song or two. "Maybe next time," was the agreement, when Bob learns to play a Croatian song or two. I mean, aside from both being predominantly Catholic countries and having an affinity for polkas, there is not much else that binds the two countries musically. But anyway, we had much fun and I'll be back with the full report, letting the story brew (gah!) for a day or two.

Labels: Music

posted by Gwynne @ 8:21 PM 3 comments

"Unclassifiable"

I just finished transferring the rest of our CDs to our iPods. It took most of the weekend, but we still have room on the pods, which means we need more music. It is nice to have that task completed.

My husband's collection includes all of the Croatian, German, Bavarian, Polish, and other variations of the accordion genre. There's also a whole CD of German Military Marches...and let me just say, OUCH! I love listening to the accordion/polka stuff once in awhile but didn't want to "clutter" my pod with it.

I have more important things, you know, like this collection of "Sixteen Stirring Patriotic Themes," to install. Of all our CDs, this is the only one that iTunes has declared "unclassifiable." Not "unclassified" or "uncategorized" or even blank, but "unclassifiable." No category for America the Beautiful? Or God Bless America? Stars & Stripes Forever? Star Spangled Banner? What is wrong with iTunes? Or do these rise above all classification? Well, I classified them as "Gospel." :-)

Labels: Music, The Absurd

posted by Gwynne @ 6:00 PM 17 comments

I Might Be A Redneck

Okay, so here's the weekend report I've been promising since the weekend itself. You do realize that I don't expect anyone to be sitting around waiting for me, right? The very thought that I might have any "readers" at all makes me laugh. That said, I do appreciate those of you who return again and again...you are precious in my eyes. :-)

Anyhoo. I've got a post to write. Here goes...

I'm inclined to start at the end of the race, such as it was. Wow! What a finish! I've never seen anything like it. Gas? Who needs it? This race was won on fumes...no, it was actually won by coasting the last half lap. The fumes were gone, the engines vapor locked. 2nd place went to the next car to coast in 17 seconds later. 3rd? Same.

Jimmie Johnson ("our" favorite...I'm just following my husband's lead on this), who had been steadily increasing his lead for nearly 60 laps without a caution flag, knew he would run out of gas if he didn't make a pit stop. He stopped for a splash of fuel with 5 laps left to go and...ahem, got a speeding ticket on pit row (it's NASCAR, people...speeding happens...are you kidding me?!). And then, he too ran out of gas on the last lap. The penalty resulted in a 14th place finish after all of his hard work and narrow misses. Good grief! This was a huge disappointment for my husband who so badly wanted to see Jimmie win. Jimmie was driving so much better than anybody else on the track all day, plus he's a good guy (unlike the ultimate winner, the hot-headed Tony Stewart). There was mass confusion at the end of the race. Nobody (except those with track scanners) knew what was going on or who won the race. There was no gas left for the customary burning rubber spin around the track. The winner had to be pushed into the winner's circle. The whole thing was about as anti-climatic as it gets. The weird part about all of this to me was that others in the crowd didn't seem nearly as visibly disturbed by it all as I was. I was flabbergasted that a race of this magnitude could end with all of the top contenders coasting across the finish line. It all came down to pit stop strategy. Pfftt. Apparently, this is not uncommon? I don't know. Maybe it's not even about the race. More on that in a minute.

In the beginning, it was exciting.

It started with a fly-by of 3 F-18 Hornets. Am I the only one who immediately gets tears in my eyes when these incredible planes fly by? Really. I don't know what it is, but it's very emotional for me. And then there was the invocation, in Jesus' name no less, before a 100,000 or so people. Nice. And then, I will admit to getting sucked into the thrill of the battle cry, "GENTLEMEN! START. YOUR. ENGINES!" And then the incredible roar of the engines, as the green flag was dropped. But really, after that, there was one caution flag after another and it seemed like we would never see lap #267. Jimmie was having a difficult time making any progress with all of the "bunching" (a term I learned from Jen; bunching ruins The Amazing Race, imho). Essentially, the field was levelled every other lap. This went on for about the first 100 or so laps. Bunching ruins NASCAR. None of the crashes were spectacular, just irritating. It was at this point where I wondered how many days it would take to finish the race. It was at this point that I thought about getting out my book. But I didn't. I played along. I was a good sport, I think. I didn't cry when I went to sit down and my seat was up, sending me to the ground (we had to stand up every time a caution lap ended, to watch the race start over again...there was more standing up and sitting down than at a Catholic mass). I didn't cry when I climbed over the seats to get back to my own without stepping on people and the seat flipped up causing a severe toe injury (in case you are wondering, one should not wear Birkenstocks to a NASCAR race either). I didn't cry when the temperatures rose to record October highs, causing near heat stroke when combined with the concrete bowl effect. I did not even cry about Jimmie losing, although I wanted to for my husband's sake...poor guy.

So, if it's not about the race, then what? I believe it's all about the marketing. Let me just say...what a racket! I have never seen such an unapologetic, aggressive marketing racket in my life. It starts on the way in, bumper to bumper traffic and tailgaters flying flags as far as the eye can see. It's like a festival of numbers, each driver a spokesman for a Fortune 500 company and identified by his number. There is no end to the flags and tents and people. Before entering the stadium, we were accosted by vendors hawking t-shirts, hats, trinkets and wampum.

Shameless Plug for Jimmie

Once inside, we were faced with a choice of dying of heat stroke or paying $3.00 per bottle for water. We spent $27 on water alone (you can't bring in your own). The highlight of the day was the Fried Bologna sandwich...mmm...but combine sodium laced bologna with 90 degree heat and my ankles were pretty swollen by the end of the day. I heard, but have not verified, that the concessions (including product sales) bring in more money than the ticket sales. I don't doubt that. I am now the proud owner of a pink camouflage Jimmie Johnson hat, #48. I could have bought the exact same hat with the #38 on it instead, for $20 less. I must be a Redneck. ;-)

After the race, we took our hosts out to dinner to thank them for inviting us. When we got home, we were exhausted from the heat and the sunburns and went straight to bed.

Whew.

Where was I?

Oh yes, this honkytonk bar on Saturday night, to see The Original Low Riders, a derivative of this band. I will admit that I didn't know what I was going to hear, but as soon as I heard them play, I recognized many of their songs (Cisco Kid, the Low Rider song...think Cheech and Chong) and enjoyed them a lot. I enjoyed the place nearly as much as the music. The Knucklehead Saloon defines "funky kitsch." It is a dive bar to beat all dive bars, located practically on the train tracks in one of the worst parts of town and it is built out of found parts (travel trailers, garage doors, outhouses, corrugated sheet metal, asbestos tiles, old cabooses, etc.) It is populated by a most eclectic mix of people, running the gamut from local residents who meander around the perimeter not wanting to pay to get in, to the governor of Kansas, to the rich white ladies of Johnson County, KS who normally wouldn't be caught dead on the Missouri side of the state line, especially in a place like this. But the place comes alive at night and the music keeps everyone coming back for more. The best part is that the trains run by about every 15-20 minutes and blow their horns mid-song. There was something very surreal about the whole experience (and I was stone cold sober ;-).

Which leads me to the last part of my post, which was the first part of my weekend. Getting high. And I mean, really high. Eight stories high. On scaffolding. Here's a picture.

Yet Another Flattering Self-Portrait

Look at the reflection in the window and you can see a nearby 4-story building below us. At first, I agreed to help my husband because he gave his employee the day off and really needed to finish just "one small part." He said all he needed from me was an extra set of hands. Little did I know that the extra set of hands needed to join him on the scaffold in order to push the button that makes it go up and down. Without me, he would have had to push one side, then walk down the plank and push the button on other side...needless to say, this increases the risk factor of working on scaffolding considerably. We arrived on site and I looked up at the dangling scaffold (which rocked side to side like a small boat on the ocean...it was anything but stable).

Impending Doom

I followed MBH up to the roof where he checked all of the cables and clamps to ensure our safety and then went back down to the ground. Once on the scaffold, every body twitch resulted in movement of the plank on which we were standing. I grabbed the railing for dear life, anchored myself with that hook you see (the image that keeps coming back is of me dangling from that there hook in the event the cables fail) and pushed the button to begin our ascent. I did not look back and I did not look down. I just held on for dear life and pushed the button in concert with my husband, trying not to get out of sink causing a severe list to one side or the other. Once we arrived at the top story, I got to work painting and took my mind off of the fact that we were just minutes away from becoming easy prey for the evening news, dangling in mid-air by those hooks, waiting for the fire department to arrive. In the end, we managed to paint eight stories worth of window frames and my husband was very pleased with my work. He said I'm ready to become a righteous painter. Maybe now I can give up my accounting gig. ;-)

And while all of the above was going on, two tons of work sat in my briefcase at home and not a lick of it got done. We have another big deadline fast approaching on 10/15 and I am ill prepared to take it on.

But that's the weekend wrap-up, finally. Any questions?

Labels: Music, NASCAR, Toil and trouble

posted by Gwynne @ 12:23 AM 5 comments