This streak is over...

March 23, 2007- December 10, 2010 Not as long as my other previous streak, but a long time nonetheless. Still tired and sore and wondering if it was flu, bad food, or a bad mix of medicines. And wondering if other people go these long periods without puking?

The 20 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media

From Right Wing News

I don't see how Ann Coulter is that high. She's alright looking, but there have got to be more attractive conservative women out there. At least Sarah Palin wasn't on there. I still say Christine O'Donnell is more attractive. She looks like she shouldn't be allowed in bars...

10/21 Bob Dylan Concert Review

Last night was my third time seeing Mr. Dylan in concert, this time at Chaifetz Arena on the St. Louis University campus. My dad is still working the fields and I couldn't find anyone else to go, so I wound up going with my mom(surprisingly she didn't mind the show, except the standing) . Chaifetz seems pretty cozy for a b-ball arena, though I guess it made for a better concert view, if you were stuck afar...
We got there really early and had to wait over an hour for scheduled start time, which ended up being about 8-10 mins after 8. I got floor seats in the eighth row the first two seats on the far side of Bob. They were pretty good seats and we thought better than the first row where you couldn't see anything sitting. The most entertaining pre-show activity was the drunken guy, singing Subterranean Homesick Blues at the top of his lungs from the other side of the arena.
I knew not to expect nothing out of the ordinary or radical, the best I was hoping for was an extra song in the encore or one of my faves in the rotating #2 surprise slot. I wound up getting neither...
Set List

Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat
Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Just Like a Woman
The Levee's Gonna Break
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
Honest With Me
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Cold Irons Bound
Love Sick
Highway 61 Revisited
Nettie Moore
Thunder on the Mountain
Ballad of the Thin Man
-------
Jolene
Like a Rolling Stone

Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat and Senor were good, and I enjoyed seeing I'll Be Your Baby Tonight again, though it was very bluesy sounding rather than country-fied, when I saw it with Larry Campbell playing steel. The intro jamming to Just Like A Woman was a strong point of the night. The way Bob and the band layed out the sound and melody was beautiful. Bob even relented halfway though to allow the audience sing along. We did end up standing the whole night, at least all of us on the floor did, which was a little surprising. Bob seemed to be a in good mood, grinning and bopping around all night...
The first seven numbers and really everything except Hard Rain and Nettie Moore, were hard rocking in sound. I guess this is the influence of Charlie Sexton. This was my first time seeing him. The lanky Texan just seems to be ready unleash his guitar maelstrom at any moment. And most fans seem to love this version of Bob's band and sound. I'd have just preferred a little more subtly and intricate numbers throughout the night like the two I mentioned were. Donnie Herron's steel guitar was lost in the mix. Personally, I think Bob has one too many band members up there, at least with this hard rocking sound Charlie brings in addition to his organ sound...
One thing I liked was the sort of alternating backdrops on the curtain behind the band. They had some kind of overhead wide shot camera, which every few numbers was seen on the curtain. But I liked it more when the altered the lighting, and you could see their, mostly Bob and Charlie's silhouettes on the curtain as they were playing.
Cold Iron Bounds was another stronger number, Highway 61 was sort of blah, until they cranked it up speed wise during the jam and then it took off. This was followed by Nettie Moore, which was one of the clearer sounding songs to me.
Probably the best song of the night? The rocking Ballad of a Thin Man, go figure. I've seen it both other times I've seen Bob and knew it was coming. But the light settings and background on stage, seemed to fit with the mood of the lyrics perfectly and the hard rocking guitars, plus it was Bob's best harp playing of the night.
After the smoke break, I mean encore break, they come back out, George with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, and delivered Jolene, which was okay. There was a big rush over by us to the side of the stage. After that it was "Thank You Friends..." and band intros and then the obligatory Like A Rolling Stone, which made me and everyone else happy. The band did the line up and left, it stayed dark for a few minutes. I was thinking we might get one more, or if this was just to distract us while the guys were already heading down the interstate. But lots of people were already leaving and the crowd was pretty low-key to begin with, so there was not much to entice them to come back...
It was good show, a little over an hour and a half. A few minor complaints, only one song on guitar and he didn't play Tangled Up in Blue, which he's played at most every other show. But it was a Bob show unique in its own way and I got 8 songs I hadn't seen yet and a venue I'd never been to.

Here's the Post's Review of the show and the Riverfront Times Review

A Dream and Proverbs

A week or two ago during one of my dreams, I had someone telling me to pay attention or something about a verse from Proverbs. I couldn't remember if it was Proverbs 8:5 or Proverbs 5:8. A lot of my dreams are partially surreal. Things are never exactly like they are in real life, there is always some details which are different. And I tend to jump from one setting to another out of nowhere.
But I did end up remembering that dream the other day. I think the person telling me, was a guy I work with, who hadn't started on my line yet. But I went and looked up the verses, first 8:5, "You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding." I like to think I've got a pretty good handle on that...
For 5:8, "Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house," which after reading the heading at the start is about adultery. And the metaphor is pretty clear. And I think I have an even better handle on this one....or at least I hope so....

Hey, Let's Lower the Voting Age to 8!

Obama wants to expand the school year for kids? Holy hell, is he trying to screw the youth vote against Democrats for the next ten years? I know his intentions and meanings are in the right spot, but in this case I'm glad I'm not young anymore. Not to mention, it would piss off teachers who'd lose their three consecutive(in theory) months off, who tend to be liberal too...

Pearl Jam is Okay and God Bless Bob Dylan

I went on Pearl Jam's fan site and was wanting to buy a cd of the St. Louis concert I went to this May. I tried buying it from their store, but it said I had to register. No Problem, I did. But then when I tried it again, it came up "Access Denied." After some looking I figured I have to pay $20 to join "Ten Club" so I can buy their stuff. You do get some stuff with the membership, a newsletter or something, and first access to tickets(which is kind of pointless since they probably won't tour in the next year or be anywhere near me...)
But I'm confused, who they're really screwing over. It's pretty stupid to me. Someone like me who just drops by and wants to buy something from them, I have to pay $20 just for that right? So, they're milking their true fans for everything? And by not selling directly I'm going to go to eBay and buy it from someone who buys multiple copies and jacks up the price?
I guess my choices are to pay $37 (plus shipping I'd imagine) to buy from Pearl Jam or buy on eBay from someone who bought multiple copies for about ten dollars less. As a conservative I think I'll take the cheaper route.
If I'm wrong about this and fouled something up, I'll gladly buy a ten club membership.
But God bless Bob Dylan. Many of his fans complain about his doing anything for money and having high price deluxe editions. But you know what he charges for his fan club ticket pre-sales? Nothing.


ADDENDUM: Well, I did some checking on message boards and was told that site frequently has "hiccups." So, I tried again and was at least able to get an order through to get processed. So, Pearl Jam is alright, apparently it's just technology that is bad.

8/10 Jackson Browne Concert Review

I went and saw Jackson Browne with David Lindley at the Fox Theater in St. Louis last night with the old man. It was sort of a hit and miss affair overall, or lack of hits to be precise.
The show was scheduled to start at 7:30, but didn't get going til about quarter after. At the beginning it was just Browne and Lindley, the stringed instrument virtuoso for the first five songs then, Lindley by himself for a couple this was about 50 minutes total. They opened with a Warren Zevon cover followed by Springsteen cover, both were well done. And Lindley was masterful in his playing. I wish I was a bit closer to the stage. We were about 20 rows back tilted right. After Browne left and Lindley performed two songs, the second of which when he started I thought was sounding like Steve Earle's Copperhead Road, which it turned out to be. Another good version and Lindley does have a nice voice as well. Come to think of it, Lindley sort of looks like Earle these days as well and Earle plays the bouzouki too, when I saw him last fall. Then came a fifteen minute break, in which Browne returned with a full band for around an hour and forty minutes worth of songs.
Here's the overall set list, as best I can piece together. I couldn't find an exact total list, but pieced together from the Post Dispatch's Review and from the KC Star's review of the Kansas City show, which did have a review.

Seminole Bingo
Brothers Under the Bridge
For Everyman
Looking East
Our Lady of the Well
What Is the Soul of a Man?
Copperhead Road
-----------
Off of Wonderland
Giving That Heaven Away
Just Say Yeah
In the Shape of a Heart
Your Bright Baby Blues
Fountain of Sorrow
The Pretender
For A Dancer
My Problem Is You
Too Many Angels
I'm Alive
Doctor My Eyes
Rock Me on the Water
Running on Empty

------------
Mercury Blues
I Am Patriot

I would have been happy with songs between just Browne and Lindley acoustically, but I know it was about to put dad to sleep. Heck I was too after the first couple of songs with his band. It's not that they were preformed bad, but I'm more of a casual fan. So, I was waiting for more familiar songs with long gaps between In the Shape of a Heart and The Pretender. And I think the rest of audience as well, there were all kind of beer runs and lots of lots of chatter I heard throughout. I'm probably not enough of a moderate Browne fan to enjoy his so-so known songs...
Browne did mention how he'd always loved St. Louis and tried to remember where they used to play before the Fox and I think someone shouted out Kiel Auditorium, which jogged his memory. He had a little banter, talking about songs and their inspirations in the first few in the electric set.
The energy finally picked up on the last three songs in the main set, which got the crowd on its feet. There were catcalls all night with song requests, which Browne continuously replied "We'll get to that one later," whether they did or not. I knew not to expect all of his hits Somebody's Baby, Take It Easy (which he did play in KC), Boulevard, but I most expected to hear The Load Out/Stay, with Lindley on tour with him. Lindley is the one who has the high falsetto voice on the original recording. That was probably the most disappointing thing for me and the song I was most looking forward to hearing. Oh, those singer/songwriters....
Though it had a period of lull, it was enjoyable by the end. For his age, Browne still has a great sounding voice and an attitude that he actually enjoys being there playing for people.

ADDENDUM: The Riverfront Times Blog, had a review and set list which confirmed the order of what I had. Their reviewer had similar thoughts to mine, that the real enjoyment was watching Browne and Lindley up there alone. Except for a few moments, when Lindley joined the band a lot of his playing was lost in the mix and more subtle.

Good Mojo? Bad Mojo? 7/13 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Concert Review

I bought tickets for Tom Petty's Kansas City date for his Mojo Tour a couple of months ago, when it looked like there wasn't going to be anymore dates added(i.e. no St. Louis date). Lo and behold after I bought mine, maybe a month and a half ago, St. Louis got a date. And it was on a Sunday night to boot, meaning I probably wouldn't have had to used a vacation day and they were about ten bucks cheaper a ticket. But on the major plus side we were in nice indoor air conditioning. My dad was complaining about it being too cold in there...


The seats were pretty kick ass. Eight rows back to the right side and pretty eye level, so that was another plus. We'd seen Petty two years ago at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis.
The Drive-By Truckers were the opening act. They played 12 songs over an hour.
Set List

After the Scene Dies
Marry Me
Drag the Lake Charlie
Birthday Boy
Santa Fe
Carl Perkins Cadillac
Heathen
Ghost to Most
The Flying Wallendas
Zip City
Sink Hole
Shut Up and Get On the Plane


I'd gotten one of their cds and have enjoyed listening to it, but the didn't play their main track from it, This Fucking Job. They were okay but were cramped together and a muddy sound from our hearing on the side. My dad was about to fall asleep and the other fan reports go along with him. They brought out a friend who played the fiddle for a few songs, cramping the stage even more. I liked Mike Cooley's songs better than Patterson Hood's singing and the last song Shut Up and Get on the Plane was probably the best one.



After a half- hour set change, the lights dimmed and the main attraction came out, the familiar jangly Listen to Her Heart, one of my faves of his. I don't know what it is about KC crowds, but they don't like to stand up. The few rows ahead of us sat for almost the whole show, and I sat for the first four or five numbers. Hey, I had a good view and didn't need to.
Set List

• Listen To Her Heart
• You Don't Know How It Feels
• I Won't Back Down
• Free Fallin'
• Oh Well
• Mary Jane's Last Dance
• Honey Bee
• Breakdown
• Jefferson Jericho Blues
• Good Enough
• Running Man's Bible
• First Flash Of Freedom
• I Should Have Known It
• Learning To Fly
• Don't Come Around Here No More
• Refugee

------------------------------------------

• Runnin' Down A Dream
• American Girl

The Highlights for me, were the bluesy Fleetwood Mac cover Oh, Well, which was a short and sweet jam. And You Don't Know How It Feels, another song he didn't do two years ago.
The set list was packed with a five song block from the new album, which the crowd was naturally lukewarm to. I Should Have Known It was probably the jewel out of these, though Good Enough had it's moments, no pun intended. I think they would have been better served broken up a little, and served between some hits or more well known songs.
And the biggest disappointment for me was the fact that aside from the new songs and two other I mentioned above, everything he played he'd played in St. Louis. A little more mix up with different songs would have been nice. Heck, a lot of his routine was the same, like they were on auto-pilot the last four-five numbers. I guess they all can't be like Dylan or Springsteen...
Several more songs period would have been nice. The set started a little after 9 PM and was over before 11 PM. Not even two hours....

That said it was still the kick-ass Heartbreakers making it look easy. We were on the same side as Benmont Tench, jumping around from piano, to keyboard to organ and Mike Campbell the "co-Captain of the team" on lead guitar. During the new songs he was probably the main attraction with his playing. The funniest thing was after every song, we saw him scratching his head like crazy. Good drugs or just a bad itch with his long hair in this heat?
Petty and Co., played the ones you expected and a few of the others. This was still a high performance show, with a few drawbacks. St. Louis two years ago probably was a little better. Tuesday night the view helped though. But I do know if I had never seen the group before, I probably would have had fewer problems and gripes. KC Star Review here

We're officially back to not giving a shit about soccer

Let the Europeans and other nations have their sport of flopping, wasting time and offsides.

"Soccer was invented by European ladies to keep them busy while their husbands did the cooking."
-Hank Hill

5/4 Pearl Jam Concert Review

Me and my brother went to see Pearl Jam last night at the Scottrade Center, in St. Louis. I had bought tickets on the Ticketsnow site, basically Ticketmaster's jack up the price page, because when I looked on the regular site, they only had crap nosebleed seats showing. So I ended up paying more and I was screwing around yesterday and saw I could have gotten floor seats on the regular ticketmaster site. They are a bunch of crooks... But anyway, I'd already taken the day off, so I was wanting to go anyway.. Plus, they weren't actually tickets, but the ones you print off at home. So, when they scanned them in, I was glad, because I got to thinking I better not have gotten screwed on this...
But me and Zane, got there with a half an hour to spare and the show actually started on time(Not like a Springsteen show....). Band of Horses opened. They didn't sound bad. A combination of 70's rock and 90s Alternative, the singer having a bit of Dave Matthews kind of annoyance. I wasn't at all familiar with them. They had a sound of everything except Southern Rock, irony being they are from South Carolina. They played nine songs for about 45 brief minutes.
And after around 45 mins of moving the stage around Pearl Jam came out to an X-Files theme-like intro music. The most surprising thing to me, was that they didn't have giant video screens up. I know they don't like the glitz and glamour, but heck even Neil Young used them when I saw him in Kansas City. They did have a backdrop with the Pearl Jam logo on a typewriter. A "Backspacer" in reference to their last albums name.
I'm sort of a moderate Pearl Jam fan. I think I became more interested in them after I found out Eddie Vedder was a huge fan of the Who. Anyway, they came out rocking. Vedder was on guitar for the first two songs of the night and intermittently after that. Song number two Corduroy was a stomping that kept the momentum going the whole night.
After the third of fourth number, he said something along the lines, " Its been six long years since we've been here..." I think more like 5 and half years. They played in St. Louis during the Vote for Change(Aka We Hate George Bush) Tour in 04. And he also tried challenging the audience by saying how hard it was going to be to top the previous nights audience in Kansas City, knowing it would rile up the Eastern Missouri faithful. But he was also full of shit, saying how long they intended to play, they had everything setlisted and all the encores are part of the "Show."
Heres the Set List

Sometimes
Corduroy
All Night
Do The Evolution

Why Go

Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town
In Hiding
Even Flow
Unthought Known
Save You
Down
Pilate
Severed Hand
Not For You
Glorified G
1/2 Full
Daughter
The Fixer
-------

Inside Job
Just Breathe
Jeremy
Got Some
Rearviewmirror
-----------
Garden
Alive
Baba O’Riley
Yellow Ledbetter>Little Wing


It was a good mixture. I think they most of their hits. Elderly Woman... and Save You were two more strong points in the main set. Better Man and Black were the only two missing ones. And I honestly would have rather gotten one of them instead of Jeremy. I've never been a major fan of it. But the one-two punch of Daughter and the Fixer, were a great way to end the regular portion of the show.
And honestly with most of the non familiar/radio friendly tracks its tough to follow along. The band rocks, but very loud and Vedder still has his garbled vocal. But his acoustic performance of Just Breathe was another strong point. During Even Flow, with the guitarists were jamming away, Vedder went to back to take a mid-set smoke break. And during the very end of the Show during Little Wing, he was setting on the amp in front smoking while Mike McCready was blaring his solo.
McCready is a powerhouse guitarist, providing all kind of mesmerizing solos. During one little jig where he played a blues riff, Vedder claimed "How appropriate in the home of the St. Louis Blues?"
The highlight for me was the final three of the night, the sonic guitar work of Alive , probably my favorite Pearl Jam song. Then the Who cover Baba O'Riley was a surprise. Was figuring a Neil Young cover or something else, but gladly to see it. I think McCready accidentally started on Yellow Ledbetter, at first before Vedder corrected him. And then going into the finale with its also signature guitar riff and unintelligible lyrics. The full band had left save Vedder and McCready, who was wailing away into Little Wing. Then Vedder wished everyone a good night and promised to be back soon. Here's the Post Dispatch's review and other piece

All in all, a true rock blowout. Hits, surprises and good music...

Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends; 2/11 Kris Kristofferson Concert Review

I saw Kris Kristofferson tonight in concert at Jesse Auditorium on the University of Missouri Campus in Columbia with my dad. I'd been in Jesse Hall many times, but never in the Auditorium as far as I could remember. It's a pretty intimate venue. I got tickets that were about 13 rows back and right in the middle. A little far back, but a great view still.
The time on the tickets said 7 PM so we got there a little around 6. I wasn't sure if that was opening door time or the actual start time. We had to wait around awhile, and even ran into people we know from our hometown, small world and the doors opened at 6:30. And right around 7 or a little after the house lights dimmed and a local dj came out and did the intro and announcements. And then Kris came out. I didn't know how the set-up would be, if it'd be him or a band or something else. But throughout the whole night, it was just Kris, his guitar and harmonica.
Here's a partial set list, based on an earlier tour stop. It's pretty close to the same order, but he played 33 songs by my count tonight. Will be reedited if I see another set-list. Here's a link to another set list from another earlier stop

Shipwrecked in the 80's
Closer To The Bone
Darby's Castle
Me and Bobby McGee
Best Of All Possible Worlds
Here Comes That Rainbow
Help Me Make It Through the Night
Casey's Last Ride
Nobody Wins
Daddy's Song
The Heart
Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)

---Intermission----

Jesus Was A Capricorn
Come Sundown
Duvalier's Dream
Just the Other Side of Nowhere
Jody and The Kid
The Pilgrim Chapter 33
To Beat The Devil
The Promise
The Final Attraction
Sunday Morning Coming Down
The Silver Tongued Devil and I
For The Good Times
-----encore------
A Moment Of Forever
Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends
Why Me Lord?



Other songs I know he played were Johnny Lobo, Sky King.
For a man of 73 and the life and times he's lived and experienced, he looks pretty good. And he was in good spirits, joking around with the crowd all night. After the first song he said, "...I used to work at Columbia Records. I have a son named Jesse. Coincidence? I think not." Then following the next couple of songs, he mentioned how he was battling a cold and in self-deprecating manner said, "...Not like you can really tell the difference... I know just what you all paid good money for, to see an old fart up here blowing his nose." He did have to wipe his nose quite a bit. And through the later part of the first set, didn't use his harmonica, because "No way I can reach that, so I guess I won't use it."
He added all kinds of ad-libs throughout the night during the songs. Toward the end of Best of All Possible Worlds, he said that Roger Miller could do a great outro-guitar part, but that he can't, "...So the song ends here." And I can't remember the song, but it was inspired by Roger McGuinn keeping a camera watching the front of his driveway and Kris and some others wanting to play a prank by letting his neighbors know about it.
Kris' voice is no longer gravelly like it used to be, but now it's more of a weathered voice that has lived through the songs and into old age. You can feel the emotion he still pours out, straining to get some of those notes. I already mentioned the wit and wryness that comes out in some of his songs, but he runs the whole gamut. You can feel the pain and sorrow, he sings then watch as he turns in ballads of redemption and takes on freedom and love.
He didn't say very much political. He did mention during one song about America having 'the most people in prison of anywhere else in the world,' and after Nobody Wins, said "This is what Dick Cheney said to George Bush in the shower." But I'd read a review from a show a year before and it looked like he said the same thing then.
In the second part of the set he had a song called Sky King, to the tune of Big Bad John about his army flight instructor that was hilarious. And a song called the Final Attraction, he said was about watching Willie Nelson perform from the side of the stage and later mentioned heroes and friends that have fallen (Hank, Johnny and June, Roger Miller, Mickey Newbury) and accidentally mentioned Willie, when he meant Waylon. He also in the first part of the show mentioned his friend and guitar player Stephen Bruton who recently passed away.
Highlights for me, were seeing the classics of course, but my faves in particular of his are, The Pilgrim Chapter 33, The Silver Tongued Devil and I and Loving Her Was Easier. Before the Silver Tongued Devil, he played Sunday Morning Coming Down and mentioned why he was wandering the streets on a Sunday morning, was because the bars were all closed on Sunday mornings in Nashville. "But by sundown," led him going into the Tallyho Tavern. He stopped after the first verse and related how his son at age five, heard him playing it, and told him it was a bad song, because "You're trying to blame your problems on someone else!" Gotta love it because he picked that up, but still too young to get the dual nature of the song. He didn't play the second verse though, don't know if he forgot or what...
But for the encore he was gone maybe 2 minutes, and came back, "Guess you could tell I wasn't going very far," or something along those lines.
All in all a great performance. I talked with a guy sitting next to me, who'd seen him the year before and said me and my dad would enjoy it. Said, he'd play his hits, some new stuff and not draw songs out, which he didn't. He played for a little under 2 hours, with the 10 min or so intermission("Get whatever you can get done in 15 minutes" Kris said before the break).
Another legend that everyone should see while he's still with us...

The End is Nigh! A Republican Win in Massachusetts

Scott Brown wins the special Senate election in Massachusetts! And the former seat that was held by Ted Kennedy, no less! Sure he may be a RINO, but puts the breaks on the Democratic machine from going full-speed ahead. But still A Republican state-wide win in probably the most liberal die-hard Democrat state there is(Sorry Vermont, you have elected several Republican officials and independents in the last few years). What's next, South Carolina voting for a pro-Abortion, tax raising, Atheist?