Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Maybe It's the Nerd In Me...
...But on the Big Bang Theory, how does Penny have an apartment in the same building as Sheldon and Leonard, who share an apartment? Granted hers is way smaller, but a waitress barely making ends meet versus two scientists with doctorates working at a university? Stranger things in life happen and I guess it is a pretty crappy apartment building(the elevator has never worked) which would let the two of them save money for stuff they like....
Sunday, May 5, 2013
The Spirit of George Jones...And Everyone Else; 5/3 Jamey Johnson Concert Review
I put off buying tickets to see one of my favorite performers for a third time, Jamey Johnson until about two weeks or so before. I was sort of wishy washy about it, I just saw him a year to the date(or at least the same first Friday of May. I remember because it was Free Comic Book Day the next day last year as well.), but figured I hadn't burned up any vacation days and he is one of my favorite artists.
And it was originally going to be held outside on 9th Street in front of the Blue Note as part of it's 9th Street Summerfest line of concerts. The weather changed of possible snow in May, pushed it indoors. Which was ironic because last year, I was worried about getting to hot inside the venue. And it also pushed the doors opening from six to eight for whatever reason.
I got there a little after seven , after doing a scramble to find parking on a Friday night and the line was already tailed back into south alley. I made the strategic decision to leave my heavy coat, in that I'd rather be down in front of the stage than up in the balcony. Standing in line for 40 minutes of 40 degree temperature, I did have some regrets but figuring it'd be warm inside packed up next to people. I'm just glad I skipped shaving...
Once the doors open and I got in and took a piss, I got in a decent area up to the left front area. And to my dismay, even with my hoodie it was still freezing in a gaggle of people. The crowd was made up of a surprisingly number of middle aged women in addition to younger college age fans. Both downing copious amounts of beer.
After standing around for another hour, opening act Chris Hennessee came out at nineish and played seven( I think) songs over half an hour. He did a lot of the outlaw name dropping and covering of songs, doing a good job of priming the crowd, but when playing his own originals it was like he was playing for about ten people in a crowd of a thousand. Which was a shame because I think he's got some talent and enjoyed his raw singer songwriting material, Waylon Jennings Song was the best stand out and even the medley of his influences was enjoyable, though makes him sound too much like others.
Set List
1. Country Boy Can Survive>Outlaw Women
2. Waylon Jennings Song
3. Long Haired Redneck>Hey Good Looking
4.
5. Red Dress
6. Medley- Mama's Don't Let Your Baby's Grow Up (To Be Cowboys)/ Luckenbach Texas> Good Ol' Boys/ Swingin'/Ballad of Curtis Loew/Can't You See
7. Georgiana
Around 10:05 the lights dimmed and the band took the stage, including Hennessee who played guitar, harmonica and backing vocals during Johnson's whole set, before Jamey clad in a Harley emblazoned jacket, took the stage and opening with High Cost of Living.
Being my third time seeing him, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect song wise and the reverence of covers from his favorite artist. I could even say it's his shtick, of how he doesn't hardly say anything throughout the show, plays a lot of the same covers, which takes a lot of the uniqueness away for me, but there's something about the passion and joy that makes me forget about most of that and just enjoy the show. Without libation too. It's a celebration of Johnson's songs, his backing band's tightness and ability and his respect for his forefathers.
The day before he played the memorial for the late great George Jones and it was still evident throughout the night, the second song was a Jones song, the first of four, possibly five. And you could see the intensity of Johnson putting in the performance to these songs.
Overall in the 32 song and two and half hour, it was about two thirds cover songs to Johnson originals. While I'd have liked to have heard a couple of favorites California Riots, Women, it really didn't matter. Seeing him do three Waylon songs, and all three ones I like, Set 'Em Up Joe and three of my favorite Johnson songs, By the Seat of Your Pants, Playing the Part and Give It Away, all made up for it.
Set List (Not sure of one song)
1. Released>High Cost of Living
2. Bartender's Blues
3. That Lonesome Song
4. Still Doing Time
5. Can't Cash My Checks
6. Take This Job and Shove It
7. Waymore's Blues
8. That's The Way Love Goes
9. The Guitar Song
10. Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?
11. By the Seat of Your Pants
12. Set 'Em Up Joe
13. Playing the Part
14. The Door Is Always Open
15. Long Black Veil
16. Dixieland Delight
17. Understand Your Man
18. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?
19. ?(Would These Arms Be In Your Way? Walk Through This World With Me, Honky Tonk World, Don't You Ever Get Tired(Of Hurting Me)
20. Macon
21. Heaven Was a Drink of Wine
22. White Lightning
23. Oh Susannah/Midnight Rider
24. Nothing Is Better Than You
25. Turn the Page
26. Tulsa Time
27. In Color
28. Give It Away
29. The Chair
30. I Fall to Pieces
31. Amazing Grace
32. I Saw the Light
And of my three times seeing him this was the most talkative he's been. Midway through the show there was a couple of fights, where the bouncers had to escort at least three people out through the night(and mostly girls I believe) which led Johnson to remark, "If you all keep up the fighting, we're gonna have to learn the Rocky theme." And one of the crew, looking to be ex-cop or military, came near me and was harassing some girl, making me miss a good part of the fiery performance of Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? Thanks dickhead.
Before the highlight performance of the night Dixieland Delight, he asked us if we liked Alabama? And after the scorching fiddle playing by the keyboardist, he remarked, "There's nothing we can do that can top that....But we can add to it." And before The Chair, he said, "Alright, lets do some Hank Cochran," and afterwards explained to us before it was a George Strait song it was a Cochran song.
The only real downside, was being in front of the speaker, the bass was cranked way higher than anything in the mix for where I was standing. Needless to say a day later the ears and deaf and ringing.
"Here's one for the Opossum, " he said, before Amazing Grace and "in case its dark when he gets there," before the finale of I Saw the Light, which Johnson still doesn't do the fake exit encore, which is another reason to love this man.
The big guy I was standing near most of the night and who I believe was there last year as well, yelled out, "Jamey Johnson! You can fuck my mom!" at one point towards the end. Hilarious.
Standing for five and a half hours and being cold all night and still have ringing ears 24 hours later, it was well worth it. Better than last year and almost as good as the first time I saw him in 2009, which is probably the best concert I've ever seen. How awesome is it to see a man with two CMA and ACM Songs of the Year under his belt this close and yet, so sad when people like Jason Aldean are where they are?
And it was originally going to be held outside on 9th Street in front of the Blue Note as part of it's 9th Street Summerfest line of concerts. The weather changed of possible snow in May, pushed it indoors. Which was ironic because last year, I was worried about getting to hot inside the venue. And it also pushed the doors opening from six to eight for whatever reason.
I got there a little after seven , after doing a scramble to find parking on a Friday night and the line was already tailed back into south alley. I made the strategic decision to leave my heavy coat, in that I'd rather be down in front of the stage than up in the balcony. Standing in line for 40 minutes of 40 degree temperature, I did have some regrets but figuring it'd be warm inside packed up next to people. I'm just glad I skipped shaving...
Once the doors open and I got in and took a piss, I got in a decent area up to the left front area. And to my dismay, even with my hoodie it was still freezing in a gaggle of people. The crowd was made up of a surprisingly number of middle aged women in addition to younger college age fans. Both downing copious amounts of beer.
After standing around for another hour, opening act Chris Hennessee came out at nineish and played seven( I think) songs over half an hour. He did a lot of the outlaw name dropping and covering of songs, doing a good job of priming the crowd, but when playing his own originals it was like he was playing for about ten people in a crowd of a thousand. Which was a shame because I think he's got some talent and enjoyed his raw singer songwriting material, Waylon Jennings Song was the best stand out and even the medley of his influences was enjoyable, though makes him sound too much like others.
Set List
1. Country Boy Can Survive>Outlaw Women
2. Waylon Jennings Song
3. Long Haired Redneck>Hey Good Looking
4.
5. Red Dress
6. Medley- Mama's Don't Let Your Baby's Grow Up (To Be Cowboys)/ Luckenbach Texas> Good Ol' Boys/ Swingin'/Ballad of Curtis Loew/Can't You See
7. Georgiana
Around 10:05 the lights dimmed and the band took the stage, including Hennessee who played guitar, harmonica and backing vocals during Johnson's whole set, before Jamey clad in a Harley emblazoned jacket, took the stage and opening with High Cost of Living.
Being my third time seeing him, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect song wise and the reverence of covers from his favorite artist. I could even say it's his shtick, of how he doesn't hardly say anything throughout the show, plays a lot of the same covers, which takes a lot of the uniqueness away for me, but there's something about the passion and joy that makes me forget about most of that and just enjoy the show. Without libation too. It's a celebration of Johnson's songs, his backing band's tightness and ability and his respect for his forefathers.
The day before he played the memorial for the late great George Jones and it was still evident throughout the night, the second song was a Jones song, the first of four, possibly five. And you could see the intensity of Johnson putting in the performance to these songs.
Overall in the 32 song and two and half hour, it was about two thirds cover songs to Johnson originals. While I'd have liked to have heard a couple of favorites California Riots, Women, it really didn't matter. Seeing him do three Waylon songs, and all three ones I like, Set 'Em Up Joe and three of my favorite Johnson songs, By the Seat of Your Pants, Playing the Part and Give It Away, all made up for it.
Set List (Not sure of one song)
1. Released>High Cost of Living
2. Bartender's Blues
3. That Lonesome Song
4. Still Doing Time
5. Can't Cash My Checks
6. Take This Job and Shove It
7. Waymore's Blues
8. That's The Way Love Goes
9. The Guitar Song
10. Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?
11. By the Seat of Your Pants
12. Set 'Em Up Joe
13. Playing the Part
14. The Door Is Always Open
15. Long Black Veil
16. Dixieland Delight
17. Understand Your Man
18. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?
19. ?(Would These Arms Be In Your Way? Walk Through This World With Me, Honky Tonk World, Don't You Ever Get Tired(Of Hurting Me)
20. Macon
21. Heaven Was a Drink of Wine
22. White Lightning
23. Oh Susannah/Midnight Rider
24. Nothing Is Better Than You
25. Turn the Page
26. Tulsa Time
27. In Color
28. Give It Away
29. The Chair
30. I Fall to Pieces
31. Amazing Grace
32. I Saw the Light
And of my three times seeing him this was the most talkative he's been. Midway through the show there was a couple of fights, where the bouncers had to escort at least three people out through the night(and mostly girls I believe) which led Johnson to remark, "If you all keep up the fighting, we're gonna have to learn the Rocky theme." And one of the crew, looking to be ex-cop or military, came near me and was harassing some girl, making me miss a good part of the fiery performance of Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? Thanks dickhead.
Before the highlight performance of the night Dixieland Delight, he asked us if we liked Alabama? And after the scorching fiddle playing by the keyboardist, he remarked, "There's nothing we can do that can top that....But we can add to it." And before The Chair, he said, "Alright, lets do some Hank Cochran," and afterwards explained to us before it was a George Strait song it was a Cochran song.
The only real downside, was being in front of the speaker, the bass was cranked way higher than anything in the mix for where I was standing. Needless to say a day later the ears and deaf and ringing.
The big guy I was standing near most of the night and who I believe was there last year as well, yelled out, "Jamey Johnson! You can fuck my mom!" at one point towards the end. Hilarious.
Standing for five and a half hours and being cold all night and still have ringing ears 24 hours later, it was well worth it. Better than last year and almost as good as the first time I saw him in 2009, which is probably the best concert I've ever seen. How awesome is it to see a man with two CMA and ACM Songs of the Year under his belt this close and yet, so sad when people like Jason Aldean are where they are?
Monday, April 29, 2013
A 1996 Collegiate Men's Olympic Basketball Team
Continuing where I started with the 2012 and 1992 teams, brings us to 1996. 1992 would have been a tough year to narrow down players( I think I would up leaving off Rodney Rogers and Harold Miner among others) and 1996 would have been even tougher. The 1996 NBA Draft produced one of the best collection of rookies which meant there were a lot of good players out there.
The coach in my mind would have been Rick Pitino, for his work of turning the Kentucky program back around the 1990s and fresh off a championship in the 1995-96 season with a deep roster of stars, would have been perfect in leading this team.
Starters
The scary thing is how many didn't make the cut. Stephon Marbury, Raef LaFrentz, Danny Fortson and Lorenzen Wright off the top of my head.
While I know I load them more heavy with stars and All-Americans than most college Olympic teams actually had, I think even without the Dream Team and eligibility of professionals, the bigger name guys would have played more. And too, the early to mid 1990s just featured a lot of great players, before Kevin Garnett led the trend of skipping college all together and players were jumping to the pros even earlier.
The coach in my mind would have been Rick Pitino, for his work of turning the Kentucky program back around the 1990s and fresh off a championship in the 1995-96 season with a deep roster of stars, would have been perfect in leading this team.
Starters
- C Tim Duncan (Wake Forest)
- PF/C Marcus Camby (Massachusetts)
- F John Wallace (Syracuse)
- SG/SF Ray Allen (Connecticut)
- PG Allen Iverson (Georgetown)
- C Erick Dampier (Mississippi State)
- PF Walter McCarty (Kentucky)
- F Keith Van Horn (Utah)
- F Antoine Walker (Kentucky)
- SG/SF Kerry Kittles (Villanova)
- G Tony Delk (Kentucky)
- PG Jacque Vaughn (Kansas)
The scary thing is how many didn't make the cut. Stephon Marbury, Raef LaFrentz, Danny Fortson and Lorenzen Wright off the top of my head.
While I know I load them more heavy with stars and All-Americans than most college Olympic teams actually had, I think even without the Dream Team and eligibility of professionals, the bigger name guys would have played more. And too, the early to mid 1990s just featured a lot of great players, before Kevin Garnett led the trend of skipping college all together and players were jumping to the pros even earlier.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The Ghost of Mike Dixon and the Missouri Tigers 2012-13 Season and Beyond
Last year, I wrote about Frank Haith's successful first season, albeit with a disappointing finish and wondering if 2011-12 was going to be as good as it got for Haith. He had a tight knit senior laden club with the talent to make it to the Final Four and would lose all but two of players from that team.
But with the news that former UConn Center Alex Oriakhi was coming to Mizzou, joining a super backcourt of Phil Pressey and Michael Dixon and fifth year senior Lawrence Bowers back after an injury, things started looking up. We were getting three impact transfers, in addition to Oriakhi, and going to the SEC, where the basketball waters aren't as tough and aside from Florida and Kentucky, the conference was even weaker than normal. Missouri did end up having a great season, with really only a couple of bad losses, at Florida and to Louisville(the likely national champion as I write this before the Final Four) in the Bahamas. Realistically Missouri should have could have won every other game they lost in the regular season. This team was good but...
They could have been so much more. The first couple of months the team looked like a contender, playing the way the prognosticators across the country thought they could be. And that was without Michael Dixon, who was was suspended for undisclosed reasons, as well as Jabari Brown, a former five star wing player who transferred from Oregon, who was eligible in the second semester. It looked like they had the mentality of a winner and knew they could be so much more when they got Dixon, but...
We all know what happened, when Dixon was booted off the team and the university for multiple sexual assaults, which he seemed to have had to remorse about. And after that the team started to lose its mojo as the season went on. They still won some big games, didn't lose at home, but at the same time couldn't pull out wins on the road they should have. And they were never fully able to show the confidence needed to make a decent run in the NCAA tourney. Where the ghost of Michael Dixon hurt the team on the court was a lack of a backup point guard to spell Pressey. Negus Webster-Chan a 6'7 swingman was used early in the season in the role and Keion Bell a 6'3 shooting guard, settled in the role, but never looked comfortable. And Pressey wound up playing 35 plus minutes a night. Dixon would have been able to spell Pressey for breaks, having the size to run the offense and help defensively on smaller guards. In the most ironicof ironies, the 2013 team was too big, where the 2012 team was Mini-Mizzou with not enough tall and big bodies.
And most importantly, Dixon would have been the choice for late game shots instead of Pressey. Pressey's mistakes late in the game, cost the team four or five chances at wins. Was it too much pressure of trying to do to much to carry the team?
And how much of it was Coach Haith, not trying to do something different? After three or four times, you figure they would try to do something different or put it in someone elses hands. Personally, I think a lot falls on Haith, who's a better recruiter than a coach. He lost his offensive scheme guru Ernie Nestor and the team this year seemed to show Nestor's role was huge last season. I don't this years teams was able to run things from half court sets, hence problems at the end of games and the Haith's Stall Ball Offensive that let teams creep back. I always said Pressey is most effective going to coast-to-coast being able to change speeds. Run your regular offense at the end of games, even if it only takes ten seconds off the clock and take your chances on defense.
It goes back to my questions from last year, where does Haith go from here? Can he continue to build on these successes? Does Phil Pressey come back?
Looking into my crystal ball, I think Pressey comes back for his senior season, but if he doesn't I think the team is in decent shape guard wise. Pressey, Brown and Earnest Ross should fill out the perimeter spots with experience.
And if Pressey doesn't come back, it could be a good thing. It would force other players into action and larger roles, and might get a better team cohesion of not having a go-to-guy or a star.
The biggest problem area will be the front court and points scored in the paint. Tony Criswell is the only player returning from the rotation, with Sophomores to be, Ryan Rosburg and Stefan Jankovic, whose potential is very intriguing, likely fighting for spot in the rotation if not starting.
And newcomers likely will play some big roles. Tulsa transfer Jordan Clarkson, is a big guard who can handle the ball, will likely find a spot as well. Top 100 freshmen, Wes Clark, a 6'0 point guard and Johnathan Williams, an athletic 6'8 forward give Haith, more options and talent to develop, in addition to Junior College transfer Keanau Post, a 6'11 center with potential as well.
I like a rotation of Pressey-Brown-Ross-Criswell-Rosburg starting, with Clark-Clarkson-Williams off the bench. The front court will be up in the air, depending on who can do what, primarily be an offensive threat. That's why I think Williams has a shot to start if he can do that. Heck he could play small forward and Ross, with his bulk act as power forward, providing mismatches for other teams. But I'm not sure how much Haith trusts Freshmen though. Short handed last year, especially in the height department Kadeem Green couldn't even get minutes in big games and this season save for Rosburg, minutes for Freshman were again hard to come by, barring injuries, after conference play started up...
Ultimately it comes down to the coaching ability of Haith or his assistants. I've got a lot of questions and doubts on that ability from what I've seen. There's no doubt the man can recruit. Look at what the kids who recruited to Miami did this year. Heck, he's landed some good talent for 2014, not to mention the transfers he's brought in.
It will come down to winning and losing after a point. The more talent you have the more is expected. Getting into the tournament is a no-brainer, but early exit and after early exit won't be tolerated year after year. Ask Tubby Smith and Ben Howland. I just wonder how much the ghost of Mike Dixon will haunt Haith and Missouri basketball...
But with the news that former UConn Center Alex Oriakhi was coming to Mizzou, joining a super backcourt of Phil Pressey and Michael Dixon and fifth year senior Lawrence Bowers back after an injury, things started looking up. We were getting three impact transfers, in addition to Oriakhi, and going to the SEC, where the basketball waters aren't as tough and aside from Florida and Kentucky, the conference was even weaker than normal. Missouri did end up having a great season, with really only a couple of bad losses, at Florida and to Louisville(the likely national champion as I write this before the Final Four) in the Bahamas. Realistically Missouri should have could have won every other game they lost in the regular season. This team was good but...
They could have been so much more. The first couple of months the team looked like a contender, playing the way the prognosticators across the country thought they could be. And that was without Michael Dixon, who was was suspended for undisclosed reasons, as well as Jabari Brown, a former five star wing player who transferred from Oregon, who was eligible in the second semester. It looked like they had the mentality of a winner and knew they could be so much more when they got Dixon, but...
We all know what happened, when Dixon was booted off the team and the university for multiple sexual assaults, which he seemed to have had to remorse about. And after that the team started to lose its mojo as the season went on. They still won some big games, didn't lose at home, but at the same time couldn't pull out wins on the road they should have. And they were never fully able to show the confidence needed to make a decent run in the NCAA tourney. Where the ghost of Michael Dixon hurt the team on the court was a lack of a backup point guard to spell Pressey. Negus Webster-Chan a 6'7 swingman was used early in the season in the role and Keion Bell a 6'3 shooting guard, settled in the role, but never looked comfortable. And Pressey wound up playing 35 plus minutes a night. Dixon would have been able to spell Pressey for breaks, having the size to run the offense and help defensively on smaller guards. In the most ironicof ironies, the 2013 team was too big, where the 2012 team was Mini-Mizzou with not enough tall and big bodies.
And most importantly, Dixon would have been the choice for late game shots instead of Pressey. Pressey's mistakes late in the game, cost the team four or five chances at wins. Was it too much pressure of trying to do to much to carry the team?
And how much of it was Coach Haith, not trying to do something different? After three or four times, you figure they would try to do something different or put it in someone elses hands. Personally, I think a lot falls on Haith, who's a better recruiter than a coach. He lost his offensive scheme guru Ernie Nestor and the team this year seemed to show Nestor's role was huge last season. I don't this years teams was able to run things from half court sets, hence problems at the end of games and the Haith's Stall Ball Offensive that let teams creep back. I always said Pressey is most effective going to coast-to-coast being able to change speeds. Run your regular offense at the end of games, even if it only takes ten seconds off the clock and take your chances on defense.
It goes back to my questions from last year, where does Haith go from here? Can he continue to build on these successes? Does Phil Pressey come back?
Looking into my crystal ball, I think Pressey comes back for his senior season, but if he doesn't I think the team is in decent shape guard wise. Pressey, Brown and Earnest Ross should fill out the perimeter spots with experience.
And if Pressey doesn't come back, it could be a good thing. It would force other players into action and larger roles, and might get a better team cohesion of not having a go-to-guy or a star.
The biggest problem area will be the front court and points scored in the paint. Tony Criswell is the only player returning from the rotation, with Sophomores to be, Ryan Rosburg and Stefan Jankovic, whose potential is very intriguing, likely fighting for spot in the rotation if not starting.
And newcomers likely will play some big roles. Tulsa transfer Jordan Clarkson, is a big guard who can handle the ball, will likely find a spot as well. Top 100 freshmen, Wes Clark, a 6'0 point guard and Johnathan Williams, an athletic 6'8 forward give Haith, more options and talent to develop, in addition to Junior College transfer Keanau Post, a 6'11 center with potential as well.
I like a rotation of Pressey-Brown-Ross-Criswell-Rosburg starting, with Clark-Clarkson-Williams off the bench. The front court will be up in the air, depending on who can do what, primarily be an offensive threat. That's why I think Williams has a shot to start if he can do that. Heck he could play small forward and Ross, with his bulk act as power forward, providing mismatches for other teams. But I'm not sure how much Haith trusts Freshmen though. Short handed last year, especially in the height department Kadeem Green couldn't even get minutes in big games and this season save for Rosburg, minutes for Freshman were again hard to come by, barring injuries, after conference play started up...
Ultimately it comes down to the coaching ability of Haith or his assistants. I've got a lot of questions and doubts on that ability from what I've seen. There's no doubt the man can recruit. Look at what the kids who recruited to Miami did this year. Heck, he's landed some good talent for 2014, not to mention the transfers he's brought in.
It will come down to winning and losing after a point. The more talent you have the more is expected. Getting into the tournament is a no-brainer, but early exit and after early exit won't be tolerated year after year. Ask Tubby Smith and Ben Howland. I just wonder how much the ghost of Mike Dixon will haunt Haith and Missouri basketball...
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Singin' Those Sad Songs; Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell 3/17 Concert Review
I can check two more classic country artists off my list of ones I need to still see live. Old friends, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell hit the road in support of their Old Yellow Moon album and The Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, got the second official stop on the tour. I had waffled on getting tickets earlier in the month, when there wasn't many good open seats. For the hell of it I checked on Thursday and they had released good seats up front.
Now, Harris is one of my old man's favorites and I've wanted too see Crowell too. But alas my dad wasn't sure if he had music practice for a Easter Pageant he's in, but I decided to get tickets anyway, as it was easy to get off work on a Sunday night and my mom would go(which she did) if he couldn't go.
For being St Patrick's day it was a nasty, rainy, snowing and sleeting day out. Though thankfully it was still warm enough for nothing to stick. But we ended getting there a little bit after six, for the 7 P.M. start time.
The Peabody Opera House is pretty spacious ceiling and stage wise, but don't think seat wise is bigger than the Fox Theatre. Both are nice. The seats I ended up getting were three rows back(six counting the orchestra pit) in the right middle section, which provided one of the best seating views I've had at a concert, at least in the theater setting.
Opening act Richard Thompson hit the stage a hair after seven, preforming a 10 song set at a little under an hour in his "Electric Trio." Honestly, other than knowing he is regarded as one of the great guitar players and he was in Fairpoint Convention, I'm not familiar with his much. I did recognize the last song, Tear Stained Letter and I might have heard Keep Your Distance before as well. And his guitar playing was good on his electric and acoustic. The sound and tone of his songs I really enjoyed too, not being familiar with, which means I'll have to check him out a little further.
His English manners and humor were on display as well. Dealing with hecklers, both positive and negative, he came back with several witty replies. After an obnoxious request, he replied, "No, we're going to do the next one." Early when he was trying to tell the sound people, that he needed to go down, multiple times, he kept motioning down, then telling us, "That's our secret signal system here, to go down." The funny thing in most circles or places, he's probably more famous than either Crowell or Harris, but is the opening act here, which Thompson said, "..This is a wonderful bill, except for our part here."
After a half hour set change Harris and Crowell came out with their five piece backing band and opened with Gram Parsons' Return of the Grievous Angel, which was almost worth the ticket by itself. They followed with another Parsons tune, Wheels.
Their band kept a good country sound and backing throughout the night. And Harris kept up a banter with the audience throughout the night and Crowell occasionally injecting some of his dry wit. Harris at one point, "I was lucky to have him all to myself in my band and as a songwriter. I heard all of these songs and before other people knew who was (He replied, "They still don't know me.")."
Overall they played 23 songs total at slightly under two hours, hitting quite a few from their new album. Their cover of Kris Kristofferson's Chase The Feeling was a pretty good version and one of the nights highlights. Though Harris at one point remarked how most of the songs they played were sad ones, even with the ones with a nice cheerful beat.
Pancho and Lefty was another highlight, which Harris remarked they loved this Townes Van Zandt song but only knew the words to the chorus and on the bus they had to rewind the cassette of it("With a number two pencil," Crowell added.) which they kept playing.
And the three pack of songs written by Crowell that Harris recorded in the 70s, of Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight, Till I Gain Control Again and I Ain't Livin' Long Like This, which Thompson came back to add guitar muscle one, was another strong point for me. Leavin Louisiana was the song I was most looking forward to hearing, as I'd been playing Harris' version nonstop the day or two before.
The most surprising omission was Harris' most known song Two More Bottles of Wine, but honestly the beauty of their singing together and other surprise songs, was enough to make up for it.
After leaving the stage shortly, the pair came back for two more songs, If I Could Only Win Your Love and Love Hurts, another song Harris recorded with Parsons as well as another highlight of the night. At the end Harris brought her dogs on stage, and gave a message about taking them in and trying to keep others out of the kennels.
Another one of the better concerts I've been too. And this being the first concert of my smart phone age, I have decent pictures(Though I still need to learn to use it. Should have gotten little better due to my nearness.). The next day, I told the old man he should have skipped practice and went. Two great icons of true country and Americana music. It's a shame that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill pass the muster for most folks as "Country Music." People have sad tastes.
Set List (The order isn't 100 percent good and question marks are songs I think they played based on other set lists.)
1. Return of the Grievous Angel
2. Wheels
3.Tragedy ?
4. Tulsa Queen
5. Luxury Liner?
6. Spanish Dream?
7. Pancho and Lefty
8. Earthbound
9. Back When We Were Beautiful
10. Dreaming My Dreams
11. Bluebird Wine
12. I'll Be Your San Antonio Rose
13. Old Yellow Moon?
14. Chase That Feeling
15. Black Caffeine
16. Invitation to the Blues
17. Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight
18. Till I Gain Control Again
19. I Aint' Living Long Like This
20. Hanging Up My Heart?
21. Still Learning How to Fly
--------
22. If I Could Only Win Your Love
23. Love Hurts
KDHX's review
Monday, March 11, 2013
The Return of Astro City!
After almost three years, the greatest comic book returns June 5th!
When we last got to visit the great city, we were getting the final chapter of the Silver Agent's story, after wrapping up the massive Dark Age storyline. We were promised the monthly series after that, but creator Kurt Busiek's health took a bad turn for a while, in addition to the Wildstorm imprint being dismantled. But the wait will be worth it.
This comic is so much more than the fights of the tights. It's about the human aspect of what's it like living in a world of heroes, whether it be from a super powered perspective or of an ordinary guy who just moved to the city. They have the same thoughts, emotions and problems as we do, albeit with super villains running rampant. It's a deeper world of heroes and villains than the comic books of old.
Naturally my interest has waned in these in-between years, more so than similar hiatus for Kurt's health issues from 2000 to early 2003 (Or course my total comic interest these days is nowhere close to my teen years).
And Herocopia went down to spammers, plus we lost all the entries we put in and it reverted back to the original, which sucked considering we had entries for every character, neighborhood, thing and reference. If you wanted to know every issue Jack-in-The-Box was in, or who the Grandenetti Cathedral was named for, it was a quick reference for casual and hard core fan.
But I'm sure I won't have a problem getting back into the book Even issues in a multi-part story do their best to be self contained and I'm sure Kurt will make the first issue very reader friendly, similar to the way he made volume 2 #1 of the main series and the first issue of the Local Heroes mini-series great jumping on points. There will be something for everyone.
In the MTV interview, he hints at a new intriguing character, The Broken Man, similar to the way the Silver Agent was to readers in the early issues. He's hinted that we've seen him before. My very early speculation guess would be he's the Bouncing Beatnik/Halcyon Hippie...
I'm eager to see the N-Forcer expose story that Kurt mentioned before the hiatus. It's a character who's been active in the Astro-Verse since at least 1959. Plus the fact that we'll see more of the present day characters after spending so much of the characters specials and the whole part of The Dark Age in the past. The Honor Guard is another of my favorite intrigues as I'm a sucker for super teams. They seemingly held the same roster from at least 1991 until 2008, the last time we saw the modern team. I'm just curious to some of the changes and inner workings.
But the older characters are very intriguing too. I'm still curious as to how the Silver Agent wouldn't have known Mirage, considering they were teammates on Honor Guard in the 1960s from the Dark Age Book Four #2. I want to see what the Astro-Naut looks like. Or how there were two different accounts of what happened to the All-American (I think I have another blog post formulating around now)...
Kurts always been masterful of weaving from the past to present, in self contained, two-parters and multi parters. Heck the whole crew of Artist/Character Designer Brent Anderson, Colorist Alex Sinclair, Letterer and Designer JG Roshell and superstar Cover Artist/Character Designer Alex Ross are stellar.
June 5th can't get here soon enough. I guess I'll just have to break out some issues and get reacquainted with the great stories I already have.
Monday, December 31, 2012
A 1992 Collegiate Men's Olympic Basketball Team
I made a roster earlier this year of who I thought would be an Olympic basketball team if it were still made up of college players. And I talked about making retro teams as well, and well' here I am eight months later, finally getting down to it.
Coach K would have been the coach, based on his strong run of being the dominant and consistent program in college basketball in the late 80s and early 90s.
Starters
Bench
This was pretty hard and straight forward at the same time. There was a lot of talent, but likely not all of these stars would have wanted to play for Team USA, to pick from, but pretty easy to figure out the best of the best, plus a few to fill in roles.
Laettner was the easiest choice(he was already on the Dream Team. Hahaha!). There's a good balance of guards, forwards and centers and a lot of overall mid height athletic guys. Though, like the roster I made for a 2012 team, not a lot whole lot of true point guards, but quite a few capable of running the point. But the Dream Team itself only had one true point guard.
I think if Collegians would have still been playing in 1992 they would have had one of the stronger teams in USA history. With the athletes and talent pool, whoever they had, they would have been right there with the 1960 and 1984 teams.
Coach K would have been the coach, based on his strong run of being the dominant and consistent program in college basketball in the late 80s and early 90s.
Starters
- C Shaquille O'Neal (Louisiana State)
- PF Christian Laettner (Duke)
- SF/SG Calbert Cheaney (Indiana)
- SG Jim Jackson (Ohio State)
- PG Bobby Hurley (Duke)
Bench
- C Alonzo Mourning (Georgetown)
- PF Chris Webber (Michigan)
- F Jamal Mashburn (Kentucky)
- SF/G Grant Hill (Duke)
- G/SF Anfernee Hardaway (Memphis)
- SG Allan Houston (Tennessee)
- G Anthony Peeler (Missouri)
This was pretty hard and straight forward at the same time. There was a lot of talent, but likely not all of these stars would have wanted to play for Team USA, to pick from, but pretty easy to figure out the best of the best, plus a few to fill in roles.
Laettner was the easiest choice(he was already on the Dream Team. Hahaha!). There's a good balance of guards, forwards and centers and a lot of overall mid height athletic guys. Though, like the roster I made for a 2012 team, not a lot whole lot of true point guards, but quite a few capable of running the point. But the Dream Team itself only had one true point guard.
I think if Collegians would have still been playing in 1992 they would have had one of the stronger teams in USA history. With the athletes and talent pool, whoever they had, they would have been right there with the 1960 and 1984 teams.
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