On the other hand...

So as I sit here watching TV, I see a commercial for another concert on the same day as the Brian Wilson show I'll be attending at the end of July.  This one occurring at Mystic Lake Casino, roughly three hours away from the BW show.

Any guesses on my reaction?

Yep, you got it.  It's a friggin' travesty!

Mike Love [one of the true dickheads of the rock and roll era] fronting the current rag-tag of a cover band posing as the Beach Boys is a complete disgrace, not to mention a total misnomer.

Brian Wilson, along with brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike [dickhead] Love, and friend Al Jardine are generally considered "the" line-up that actually constitutes the Beach Boys.  There's some wiggle room for early member David Marks and Brian's touring replacement Bruce Johnston.

So it's degenerated to this: Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and a cadre of unknown session players.  Maybe even pretty-boy airhead John Stamos.  And if you're of the belief that either Love or Johnston was essential to the group, you're cracked.  Neither really composed anything so you're likely to see them performing Brian's greatest hits.  Sad.

Stop.  Please stop.

You're all on notice!

July 31st.

Clear Lake, Iowa.

Surf Ballroom.

History meets history.

Please excuse the hyperbole as I'm excited.  The Surf Ballroom, of course, is the final venue played by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper on February 2, 1959.  I guess they retired or something immediately after playing there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf_Ballroom

Anyway, on July 31st, I will push, shove and cajole my way to stagefront to watch Brian Wilson play.  It will be my third time seeing him, and the first two times are among the three best concerts I've seen [Monsters Of Folk being the other].  Plus, I'm just a huge BW bobo.  I pretty much like anything he touches, even the dreary and depressing Cocaine Sessions.  Sometimes also called the Hamburger Sessions.

He's out supporting his semi-recent Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin LP.  It's not even close to my fave Wilson disc.  In fact, I'm a little concerned with how such a low-key affair will translate live.

Doesn't matter though.  I would sit through a Brian Wilson adaptation of the phone book.

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

Random notes:

Congrats to Captain Willard, of Willards Wormholes for re-opening his great blog, now on his own domain.  Check him out, it's a great site.

Also looking forward to site host Blank Frank of And Your Bird Can Swing re-opening his site as a forum.  Again, check him out.

A number of blogs I frequent have lately had issues with the DMCA.  That's a large part of why the two blogs listed above have, or are changing, the way they do business. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmca

Kudos to Dave Wohlman, of Radio Free Wohlman, for having the time and tenacity to conduct an in-depth investigation into the causes of recent DMCA actions taken against his blog.  His findings his been revelatory for numerous reasons, mostly because it seems any twink with a hair up his ass can file a DMCA notice that will be acted upon without prior investigation.  Guilty until proven innocent.

Talk about being conflicted.  I generally don't like Lady Gaga's music.  Or most of her "antics."  However, I do like her outspoken stance on human rights for the GLBT community.  RF Cat is definitely in favor of civility and tolerance among humans.

As a sports fan in Minnesota, the past year has been dire.
     Minnesota Twins:  need to fire GM Bill Smith.  Probably coach Ron Gardenhire and his field staff too.
   
     Minnesota Timberwolves:  probably need to fire GM David Kahn.  About to fire coach Kurt Rambis.
   
     Minnesota Wild:  still recovering from the regime change two seasons ago
   
     Minnesota Vikings:  apparently cursed forever
 
     No wonder I dig music so much: permanent winning streak!

Peace to all, drive safely, and please remain seated until the ride comes to a complete stop.

Reg

new Bin Laden photos released...

Among the more startling revelations contained in the treasure trove of documents, flash drives and porn recovered from the Bin Laden compound, were the details of some of his undercover disguises and aliases.

Apparently in the mid-1980's, Bin Laden was undercover as newspaper editor Frank Walker for Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher at a Los Angeles newspaper.

 


[My apologies to actor Richard Libertini.  Please have a sense of humor]


Another startling revelation was that Bin Laden, despite his loathing of all things US, had a secret affinity for white American women with large asses.

I will report more later as insurgents are closing on this position and I need to move NOW!

Freedom!

P.S  Just for kicks, this one's "legit."

Roger McGuinn live!

I mentioned awhile back that I was going to see founding Byrd Roger McGuinn live.  Well, I saw him and he was great.  He looked and sounded healthy and in good form.

The location was the Hopkins Center For The Arts, in Hopkins, MN, a small, intimate and acoustically sound venue.

The above picture is actually not from the show, but cribbed from here.  But he looked the same, and interestingly enough, the accompanying review from 2006 could just have well been from the show I saw.

Kudos to Roger for making it sound fresh because I have a performance of his on XM Radio from 2004 that sounds damn near identical to what I saw, both in music and banter.

The thrill of hearing him pick the opening notes of Mr. Tambourine Man on his Rickenbacker 12-string was tangible.  This evening, as the other review above alludes to, he also played banjo, 12-string acoustic, and a specially made 7-sting acoustic [yes, 7!...I'd never heard of that before].

He hit all the right touchstones, opening with My Back Pages and deftly mixing in You Ain't Going Nowhere, Turn! Turn! Turn!, Mr. Spaceman, I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better, Ballad Of Easy Rider, Chestnut Mare, Eight Miles High and others.

While I'm not really a fan of some of the more obscure folk numbers Roger champions, I nonetheless appreciate his passion and commitment to preserving/passing on those same items.

If McGuinn comes to your city, PLEASE see him.  It's a great show by one of the seminal figures of early-60's pop and beyond, who carved his initial niche by marrying the sonic crunch of the Beatles to the heady wordplay of Dylan.  After McGuinn, the 12-string Rickenbacker would never be the same.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_McGuinn

http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden/php/search/

P.S.  Now I'm a bad pussy cat.

P.P.S.  If you like it, let me know.

revisit a classic

The 10th season of American Idol wrapped and fortunately I missed all of it.  I hate Idol.  I hate the conceit of the name Idol.

Anyway, I previously blogged about this and think the post is just as relevant today.

Link to the original post below.

http://reggiefcat.blogspot.com/2010/06/cliff-notes-why-i-hate-american-idol.html

That's odd...

Does anyone else think she looks like Marilyn Manson with boobs?

Iran: begging for a mushroom cloud

First off, I will never forgive Iran for holding Americans hostage for 444 days back in 1979-80.

That's just so you have a little background on my thoughts regarding those crazy jackoffs.

I laughed when I read an article today about the three US hikers/"spies" and how the one woman was released on $500,000 bail and has been requested by the Alli Alli Akbars in power to return for trial.

I laughed because if I were her, I would be taking every chance possible to loudly proclaim, "go F yourself camel jockeys, I wouldn't return to your dusty, shitty tract of land if you friggin' paid me!  Oh, um, drink gas and burn."

I'm sure a trial in Iran would be fair and require a burdon of proof beyond a reasonable doubt after a preponderance of the evidence.  That's cute.

"Please be Iran, please be Iran..."

Cue the vindication please

http://www.startribune.com/nation/122452089.html

The link above is to a story regarding Sarah Palin.  It is about a "tell-all" book written by a former aide.

I told you she was a self-serving asshole.

"Fine, I'm an asshole.  Whaddya want from me.  I'm batshit crazy too"

now you're...in the know

A friend of mine asked me what music blogs I liked.  You know, a list-y kind of thing.  I didn't really feel in the compiling mood, so I agreed to give it some thought and put some of those select thoughts on page [as it were].  The timing of the question is great because it coincides with the re-opening of one of my faves.

For those who follow this sort of thing, one of the best music blogs on the whole innerweb has been re-christened as Willard's Wormholes.

This truly is one of the best music blogs out there.  Tons of great music, often material that is somewhat off the beaten track.  Willard's Wormholes would be worth the price of admission alone for it's quality work at capsulizing its contents.

And Your Bird Can Swing is another must visit. Site host Blank Frank offers a great mix of music, often featuring under-appreciated or out-of-print work.  It also features a regular community that is very passionate about the subject matter.

For a hardcore Beatles fix, I keep my eye on 12 Bar Original.  All Beatles, all the time. To the newly initiated, a site like this can have an overwhelming amount of subject matter. How many hours in a row do you wanna listen to the Beatles?

Founding Byrd Roger McGuinn has a pretty cool site: Roger McGuinn's Folk Den.  Every month since 1995, Roger releases a free MP3 of some folk song, most of which are obscure to me.  It's a nice way to connect with fans.  This site is especially on my mind as I am seeing Mr. McGuinn in concert tomorrow night.  The small venue should favor intimacy and I'll be happy if I can just hear him sing "You Ain't Going Nowhere."

There are really about eighteen other sites that I frequent regularly, but far and away, the above sites are my favorites.  Plus I only have about two dozen lines of mojo tonight.

Check them out, they're worth the investment in time.

RF Cat

Ah, levity...

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/121865604.html

Kudos to Howard Sinker for a nice post.

Oh: it's only really amusing if you follow the Minnesota Twins.

Bin Laden's family retorts....

WASHINGTON - The adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at President Obama in their first public reaction to their father's death, accusing the United States of violating its basic legal principles by killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea.


[above excerpt from the New York Times]


The appropriate response to the Bin Laden family whining about an "unarmed man" being killed [I forget...were the people in the World Trade Center armed?] should be as succinct as follows:


Go "F" yourself, camel jockey.

Hotel Bin Laden

Rudy

[more to come]

[sing-songy] Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Take a bin guess...