SiCKO

Wow! I finally got around to seeing this movie on Saturday...excellent.

Universal health care? Why the f*ck not?!?

Calling it "socialized medicine" just isn't going to scare me away that easily any more. (And, no, that's not just the Michael Moore kool-aid talking. I've been moving gradually in that direction. This film just sort of crystallized it for me.)

Randomly Quoting SHAKEY, Take 2

"People write in magazines that I make different kinds of records just to draw attention to myself. If I ever saw the little wimps that were saying that, then I'm sure that I'd have to fucking kill them...There's many better ways to draw attention to myself. I could kill music critics if I wanted to...I could burn down Geffen Records...I could burn myself down in public if I wanted to--that would get a lot of attention, right?

It's a very stupid thing to assume that I'm making different kinds of music to draw attention to myself. I made Trans because I wanted to. I did the Shocking Pinks and the International Harvesters because I wanted to, and I'm doing the Bluenotes beacuse I want to, and if you don't like that shit, fine. What are these guys saying? That the cool thing is just to do the same thing over and over again and not be a weirdo? Because if Neil Young did do the same thing over and over and over again and wasn't a weirdo, then these guys would be going, 'Oh, Neil Young, he's so boring, coming out with the same thing over and over and over again.' You can't win. You know, one week I'm a jerk, and the next week I'm a genius. So, how can I take these fucking music critics seriously? Let the people decide."

-- Interview with Tom Hibbert, 1988 (as quoted in Shakey)

CAGR

In my high school and college days, we looked forward to "keggers". Nothing quite like gathering friends and acquaintances, tapping a keg (or several kegs) of beer, and drinking until you drop.

Calculating "Compound Annual Growth Rates" is not nearly as fun-filled and exciting.

Free Jimi Hendrix MP3's

Go HERE

to get these:

Jimi Hendrix Miami Pop Festival 1968

Live at Gulfstream Racetrack, Florida, May 18, 1968.

Jimi Hendrix at Fillmore East, Monterey, Woodstock... these are the shows that people talk about. Only the fans know of the lesser-known shows such as the Miami Pop Festival in 1968.

This is what Lew posted at digitaldreamdoor.com:
"I saw Hendrix at the May 1968 Gulfstream Pop Festival in Hallendale Florida, just north of Miami. (There was a second festival in December.) This was after his first album was released and Purple Haze was getting a little airplay on the radio. But he was just a new and strange act at that time, not the legend he became later. I sat on a blanket about 50 feet from the stage, (everyone sat back then). Anyone could have walked right up to the stage and held out their hand and he would have shook it. I saw a girl walk up and hand him a rose, and then walk back to her blanket and sit down. Anyway, he did a straight set of the songs on Are You Experienced. I can't remember if he did any extra songs, but he didn't do anything wild like set his guitar on fire. He did play with his teeth and behind his head on one song. There were only about 400 people interested enough in him to watch his performance. There were two stages going at the same time and someone more popular in '67 was probably on the other stage."

Thanks to jonsatticuk and BP who shared the lossless tracks on the internet, this is a relatively short set and, as a bonus, we are offering the set from two different soundboard sources.
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality, stereo MP3s - sample rate of 192 kibit/s). As far as we can ascertain, this recording has never been officially released.

Soundboard recording

Lineage: Master > DAT > CDR > Soundstudio

01. Foxy Lady (7.4MB)
02. Fire (5.0MB)
03. Hear My Train A Comin' (9.6MB)
04. Purple Haze (6.4MB)
05. Announcements (563k)

Lineage: Master Soundboard > DAT > CDR > CDR(via dBpower AMP, low compression)

06. Intro/Speaks (1.3MB)
07. Foxy Lady (6.9MB)
08. Fire (4.2MB)
09. Hear My Train A Comin' (9.8MB)
10. Purple Haze (6.1MB)

Rapid Fire Blogging

I'm going to open another Internet Explorer window, and write about the first 3 things that catch my eye on the Yahoo! homepage...

At least 189 dead in Brazil air crash

The pilot of an airliner that burst into flames after trying to land on a short, rain-slicked runway apparently tried to take off again, barely clearing rush-hour traffic on a major highway. The death toll rose Wednesday to 189 and could climb higher.

Well, that sucks.

Report: Gang suppression doesn't work

Anti-gang legislation and police crackdowns are failing so badly that they are strengthening the criminal organizations and making U.S. cities more dangerous, according to a report being released Wednesday.

Well, that sucks.

Hootie & the Blowfish delay summer tour

Hootie & the Blowfish are again delaying the start of their summer tour as lead singer Darius Rucker recovers from a staph infection in his left knee.

Well...

Friday The 13th

Blah.

Still The Ultimate Rock 'n' Roll Graphic

Apparently, There's Been Some Confusion

Haven't we been over this before? Maybe not...so, here it is (again?).

Haahnster's Musical Artist of the Decade
1950's: Elvis Presley (1.a Chuck Berry)
1960's: Bob Dylan (Honorable Mention to Beatles & Stones)
1970's: Neil Young (1.a Led Zeppelin, Stones are right there, too)
1980's: R.E.M.
1990's: Pearl Jam
2000's: I'm too old to care, I guess.

William Kristol Still LOVES The War In Iraq!

Don't believe me? Just click here.

The Strangest Thing...

Something strange happened this morning: I fainted in the shower. I mean, blacked out completely, and woke up thinking I was peeing down my own leg. But, of course, it was actually the shower water cascading down upon me. My left knee is pretty sore, must've taken the brunt of the impact. Weird stuff...

So, when I got to work, I looked up what causes fainting. I'm not on any blood pressure medications (though I probably should be), and I really don't like the idea that I might have diabetes or Parkinson's. I'd also hate to think it was a brain stroke.

So, I'll go with dehydration. That seems like the most easily acceptable cause. Plus, I was outside a lot yesterday, and it was really freakin' hot. Good, no need to change anything but up the water intake a bit. Done.

Psychedelic Beasties?

AMillionMonkeys Rob (aka "my brother") describes the new Beastie Boys instrumental CD thusly, "The funk/dub sound is familiar, but there's a sort of psychedelic rock thing going on that is new, I think." He likes it, as do I.

I am particularly fond of the ultra-funky "14th St. Break," and the slow/spacey "The Gala Event." Also, "Off the Grid" is just as the title states. Niiiice.

Get it. (And, thanks, Beth!)

Randomly Quoting SHAKEY

"One thing I could never tell Neil--or even talk to Neil about--is what he should record. I've never in twenty-six years suggested the kind of material he should be writing. It doesn't work like that. If I thought it did, maybe I would, frankly. It just doesn't. If you just say, 'Boy, that's a hit single' to Neil, not only is it not released as a single, it's off the album."

Elliot Roberts, Neil Young's long-time manager, as quoted by Jimmy McDonough in Shakey