Woo Gosh, Everyone's Doin' It

I probably won't go see the Simpsons movie...but I thought the idea of being "Simpsonized" was funny (Thanks AMO), so...



I don't suppose it looks like me at all.

If Anyone's Noticing

Paul Konerko since May 17:

G AB HR RBI BB AVG
64 214 17 41 35 .309

"I Wish I Could Do That"

I've always enjoyed making sound collages and weird mixes. Here's one I made some ten to twelve years ago. Some recent digging through my old cassettes led me to it, and some positive feedback from CO enticed me into posting it. This is not a short piece, but you may find it quite entertaining. (I hope so!) You'll probably recognize a lot of the sound sources.

Peace.

Enough of this Crap--Let's Get it Started!

On July 23, 2002, the head of British intelligence reported that Bush and Cheney were intent on invading Iraq and planned to "fix the intelligence and facts around the policy". Five years later a million people have died in Iraq as a direct result of these lies with no end in sight. Torture has been institutionalized, habeas corpus eviscerated, and illegal spying made routine. New Orleans lies devastated along with the Constitution and the rule of law. And Bush and Cheney are making a mockery of the Democrats' feeble gestures towards accountability.

Enough is enough, and this July 23rd we will launch a new phase in the movement for peace and justice. We call it the Orange Revolution because starting that day wearing orange will signify that you want Congress to START IMPEACHMENT and STOP THE WAR. The majority of Americans, who want to see Bush and Cheney impeached and want an immediate end to this war, are made effectively invisible by a complicit media. Wearing orange will be our signal to each other, and to the world, about where we stand. Anything orange will do: a t-shirt, a wristband, your shoelaces. Get creative and send us your ideas. Here are a some great items you can wear designed specifically for the Orange Revolution:

http://www.democrats.com/orangerevolution

The Orange Revolution will be launched with acts of civil disobedience in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere to show Congress that we are serious.

It's in...or out...or whatever.

Rob Rodriguez and I spent much of last fall and winter writing Fab Four FAQ, our book on the Beatles. Today I received my copy of the book from our publisher, Hal Leonard Books.

I am extremely proud of this book, and hope you will indulge me in thanking Rob for being such a great partner...and all at HL for being so great to work with. Finally, I want to thank all of you who have been so helpful and encouraging to me (and to Rob) during the writing of FFF.

Peace.

Ball-Busters

Thought I'd seen it all from ballplayers, but I'd never counted on the old reach-in. Check out Cesar Izturis "congratulating" Aramis Ramirez after that recent game-winner vs. Milwaukee.

One of Those Moments

...when you're walking along and you notice it's lush, green, warm, breezy, and lovely, in a way that it will never be again, because July 11, 2007 will never be again.

When you notice that the gardens that people have tended in the city, during those hard, chilly, rainy spring months of April and May have exploded into verdant paradise, a gorgeous parade of green plants accented by flowers in purple and yellow. Plants of all shapes and sizes, all leaf types and textures. Flowers on the way up, at their peak, and on the way down.

Entire ecosystems, existing under these blankets of green, completely unknown to us...the rich soil taking in the rain and providing nutrition for all sorts of plants, flowers, insects, and, yes, even weeds...

It's easy to keep your head down, taking care of your daily business, walking with earbuds on or bags of groceries in your hands or worries on your mind. But just staring at the plants, the blue sky, the interesting clouds, with a pair of fresh eyes...it's as good as any art museum. And it's free.

Great Guitar Solos

Guitar solos are one of the great quandries of rock and roll. Nothing can destroy a good record more than a crummy, overlong, trite guitar solo...but a great guitar solo adds a special quality that enhances a song.

Think of some of the great well-known solos in rock...my mind calls up George Harrison's languid lead in "Something," Glenn Tilbrook's propulsive solo in Squeeze's "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," and even Tom Scholz' work on Boston's "More Than a Feeling"--saying nothing of Jimi Hendrix's fretwork on "Fire" or even Scotty Moore's raucous work in service of Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog."

I'd be interested in knowing what some of your favorites are. Aside from some of the above-listed solos, here are some others that stick in my mind:

*Roger McGuinn's mind-expanding solo in the Byrds' "Eight Miles High"
*Terry Kath's unreal wah-wah work in Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4"
*Steely Dan's "Reeling in the Years," featuring a lead part by Elliot Randall that nearly defies description
*The Buckinghams' "Don't Want to Cry," featuring Carl Giammarese's breakneck-speed out-of control fuzz solo
*Burton Averre of the Knack's monumental solo on "My Sharona"
*Michael Karoli's insane lead on Can's epic "Mother Sky"
*XTC's Dave Gregory one-upping his hero, Todd Rundgren, on Skylarking's "That's Really Super, Supergirl"
*Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine trading solos in Television's "Marquee Moon"

What else is out there?

Where is the Love?

It's right here.