Turn Down That Stupid Music!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Play That Funky Music, White Boy

Some fascinating trivia about the early gigs by the now-mythical jazz fusion band from the early 1970s called Mahavishnu Orchestra...

Their first gig was July 21, 1971 at the Gaslight at the Au-Go-Go in NY City. They were a big hit, and were held over twice, ending their run August 9th.

Their next two gigs, a month later (also in New York) were at the Beacon Theatre, where they opened up for (gasp) Cannonball Adderly and Les Paul's godson Steve Miller.

After two more gigs widely separated in time, they came up here to New Hampshire, and were part of a triple bill at UNH, where they opened for (gulp) Blue Oyster Cult and The Byrds. They stayed with this tour for awhile, but also did some stand alone gigs, along with some other interesting dates. In November of 1971 they opened at SUNY at Stony Brook for The Kinks and Yes.

In early 1972, they opened several shows for Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales, but got kicked off the tour for blowing the main act off the stage, especially at Symphony Hall in Beantown on January 26. All reports I read at the time said that Uncle Jerry was NOT happy.

A month later, they went out west to places like Colorado, and opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

On April Fool's Day of that year, they came back east to Princeton, where good old boy John Prine got to open for them.

Two days later (at sunrise) they played at the infamous Mar Y Sol Festival in Puerto Rico, where their first recorded "live" song came about (available on the soundtrack album from said fest, long out of print. They did a killer version of "The Noonward Race".)

Could their schedule get any stranger? Of course it could.

On June 18 1972, they opened in Berkeley for...Cheech and Chong.

3 weeks later, they played Carnegie Hall, right after a solo piano performance by Oscar Peterson. Needless to say, the crowd was confused.

Apparently, the gig opening for Cheech and Chong was the last gig they did as a "supporting act".

Unbelievably, they played with the following hackers just before they ended...

November 29 at Cornell...opening act Weather Report

November 30 at Princeton...opening act Chick Corea and Return to Forever

And stranger than truth, the last act Maha Orch toured with just before they quit was...

Papa John Creach

"Pipeline", New Hampshire Style!

Still plenty of snow 46 miles to the north of Saddle Hill-this is the south entrance to "Pipeline Gully" on the north side of Mt. Washington, where the ski season is just starting.

MWN Observatory courtesy photo by Mike Pelchat...

And here's a short youtube video showing the Pipeline-as Count Floyd would say, "That's scary, scary stuff!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIo96-zd_rI

Uh-Oh...

One of the ecological nightmares in the Hawaiian Islands is the presence of the dreaded brown tree snake, which could spell disaster for many birds if they gain a foothold. The snakes found their way onto the island of Guam during the years after World War 2, and the bird population was decimated. At least 8 of these snakes have been found in Hawaii since 1981, and the State has been very active, especially around the islands' airports and seaports, to keep an eye on the problem.

"Personnel at the Marine Corps base in Kane'ohe said a jogger spotted the snake at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. Base workers said they made an immediate search of the area but found no trace of what could be a highly invasive species"

http://www.kitv.com/news/15931005/detail.html

(includes video)

Friday, April 18, 2008

RIP Molokai Music Camp

http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2008/4/17/Hawaiian_music_camp_victim_Molokai_Ranch_closure

Steal This!

Thieves stealing ATMs on the Garden Isle

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080417/BREAKING01/80417076/-1/LOCALNEWSFRONT

Song Lyric of the Day

"Over bridge of sighs
To rest my eyes in shades of green
Under dreamin’ spires
To Itchycoo Park, that’s where I’ve been

What did you do there?
I got high
What did you feel there?
Well I cried
But why the tears there?
I’ll tell you why

It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful
lIt’s all too beautiful
lIt’s all too beautiful

I feel inclined to blow my mind
Get hung up feed the ducks with a bun
They all come out to groove about
Be nice and have fun in the sun

Tell you what I’ll do (what will you do?)
I’d like to go there now with you
You can miss out school (won’t that be cool)
Why go to learn the words of fools?

What will we do there?
We’ll get high
What will we touch there?
We’ll touch the sky
But why the tears then?
I’ll tell you why

It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful

I feel inclined to blow my mind
Get hung up feed the ducks with a bun
They all come out to groove about
Be nice and have fun in the sun

It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful

Ha!

It’s all too beautiful......."

Another Dog Tail/Tale

ELY, Nev. -- A dog that ran off during a road-trip rest stop in north-central Nevada apparently made its way nearly 80 miles across Nevada's high desert and two mountain ranges to return home to Ely a week later.

Moon, a Siberian husky, was reunited on April 14 with owner Doug Dashiell, who had last seen her April 6 near Railroad Valley, a distance he later clocked at 77 miles.

Moon, who is nearly two years old, was no worse for the wear, with the exception of stinking like a skunk that apparently sprayed her somewhere along the journey.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1120ap_odd_lost_dogs_journey.html?source=mypi

Starquakes

Mighty eruptions on the sun trigger bursts of sound waves that ripple across the fiery ball of gas.

The finding, which will be published in the May 1 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters, comes from data collected with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint venture between NASA and ESA.

Astronomers have known that sound waves constantly trek toward the sun's interior, producing a background "ringing" of sorts. As they move through the sun's plasma, the sound waves take on a pulsing pattern of five minutes, and hence are called five-minute oscillations.

They are also called starquakes.

"It's like waves in the ocean."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080418/sc_space/flaringtempercausessuntoquake

Old Poem of the Day

"Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend,
"If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,
--One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

rest of poem...

http://poetry.eserver.org/paul-revere.html

Friday Music Digest

Most music in the US isn't paid for

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/15657

2008 St. Kitts Music Fest

http://www.sknvibes.com/Entertainment/News.cfm/877

Bobby Dylan to play in Croatia

http://www.balkantravellers.com/en/read/article/516

Cape May Jazz Fest in New Jersey

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/81-04182008-1521281.html

The new Odd Couple: Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/apr/18/0417_skaggs/

E Street keyboardist Danny Federici RIP

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003791283

And a new CD from the great Alejandro Escovedo

http://pr-canada.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31748&Itemid=65

New Movie Filmed on Oahu Opens

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is a Universal Pictures feature that opens today.

It was mostly filmed at Turtle Bay on Oahu's North Shore, and features a soundtrack that includes Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, the Brothers Cazimero, Martin Pahinui, Daniel Ho, Hawaii Tattoo and the Tradewinds

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/18/features/story06.html

Dog at Sea

Sorry, no pictures!

HONOLULU — Snickers is only eight months old.

But the cocker spaniel already has spent three months adrift on a 48-foot boat and survived four months on a tiny Pacific atoll where his owners, Jerry and Darla Merrow of California, left him when they were rescued by a cargo vessel.

Now Snickers is in Honolulu, rescued by cruise ship workers, the Hawaiian Humane Society, an airline, and others who have united to find him a home

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/234970.php

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Drumming

From the NRBQ e-mail list...Drummers make better lovers? Tommy Ardolino could not be reached for comment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/17/ndrum117.xml

Latest Music From Radio Australia

I have the Radio Australia RSS Feed at the bottom of the page, but it doesn't give all the goodies. All of their shows are available online and on-demand...

Here's their latest schedule:

Maceo Parker

(The Daily Planet: Thursday 17 April 2008)

URL: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/dailyplanet/stories/2008/2209811.htm

On his new double CD with his rhythm section and the WDR Big Band Cologne, Roots and Grooves, long-time James Brown saxophonist Maceo Parker realises two lifelong dreams - to record a tribute to Ray Charles and to record with a big band.

Chris Smither solo, plus Eric Bibb and Danny Thompson.

(Music Deli: Friday 18 April 2008)

URL: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/musicdeli/stories/2008/2219918.htm

In this week's Music Deli we go back to two concerts from 2007 - Chris Smither at the Brunswick Music Festival , and then Eric Bibb and Danny Thompson together at the Blue Mountains Folk Festival.

Windward Oahu Fishing Study

Kailua Bay has banned fishing with "gillnets". Is the ban working?

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080417/BREAKING01/80417003/-1/LOCALNEWSFRONT

Don't Fly This!

The FAA wants to auction takeoff slots at one of the scariest airports around, New York's LaGuardia...

http://www.nysun.com/news/new-york/schumer-critical-faa%E2%80%99s-plans-auctioning-la-guardia-slots

Firesign Theatre Sightings

Phil "Nick Danger" Austin has completed two new chapters of "Beaver Teeth":

http://austin.weblogger.com/

And David "Catherwood" Ossman's recent interview on Air America radio can be heard here:

http://airamerica.com/content/lionel-talks-david-ossman-firesign-theatre

Meanwhile, Phil "Rocky Roccoco" Proctor continues to hold forth at Planet Proctor:

http://www.planetproctor.com/

"You're Dead, Jim."

William Shatner says in his autobiography that he never realized until after "Star Trek" ended how much the other cast members disliked him, the New York Daily News reported:

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/04/17/2008-04-17_william_shatner_relives_trek_in_book.html

Tracing Pacific Islanders

Old human remains found on the Pacific islands of Palau are caught in the crossfire between entertainment and science...

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080416/full/452806a.html

IZ Lives!

"Maybe it's that image of carefree bluebirds or just the lilting lullaby tone, but there's something about Over the Rainbow that warms the heart and makes cash registers ring.

The latest star turn for the tune written for Judy Garland's Dorothy in 1939's The Wizard of Oz came last week, when dreadlocked American Idol finalist Jason Castro plinked out the song on ukulele.

Castro's rendition not only kept him in the competition, it also spawned a 700% increase in sales and a huge jump (from No. 187 to No. 11) on Nielsen SoundScan's digital songs chart for the 1993 version recorded by the late Hawaiian giant Bruddah Iz, aka Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. "

More here

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-04-16-idol-rainbow_N.htm
.

The Hawks are Flying...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ep9CNgFZxQ

The Big 44

"The Ford Mustang is an automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company, originally based on the Ford Falcon compact.

The first production Mustang rolled off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964, and was introduced to the public at the New York World's Fair on April 17, 1964, via all three American television networks on April 19, and made an appearance in the James Bond film Goldfinger in September 1964."

Production: 1964–1973

Assembly: Dearborn, Michigan
San Jose, California

Body style(s): 2-door convertible 2-door coupe 2-door fastback

Engine(s): 170 in³ Thriftpower I6
200 in³ Thriftpower I6
250 in³ Thriftpower I6
260 in³ Windsor V8 289 in³ Windsor V8
302 in³ Windsor V8
302 in³ Boss 302 V8
351 in³ Windsor V8
351 in³ Cleveland V8
390 in³ FE V8
427 in³ FE V8
428 in³ FE V8
429 in³ Cobra Jet V8

Transmission(s): 3-speed manual, 4-speed manual, 2-speed automatic, 3-speed automatic

Wheelbase: 108 in (2743 mm)

Length: 181.6 in (4613 mm)

Width: 68.2 in (1732 mm)

Curb weight: 2570 lb (1170 kg) (six-cylinder) 3000 lb (1360 kg) (V8)

Thuesday Music Digest

"Old" Riders of the Purple Sage in concert:

http://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/articles/2008/04/17/entertainment/04entertainmentphil.txt

NRBQ fans Widespread Panic to close Bonnaroo Fest

http://www.livemusicblog.com/news/08/04/17/widespread-panic-bonnaroo-2008-finale.php

Danny Elfman does Houdini

http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=27007

New exhibit at CMA Hall of Fame

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gOuwsAbitN-1VUg5MxWxn3n56fVA

Clash founder Mick Jones honored in Britain

http://www.hiphop-elements.com/article/read/4/21821/1/

The Mother Road

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/1990-05-01/Route-66-Myths-And-History.aspx

New Beatles film

http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/the_beatles/news/11438

ASCAP to honor Quincy Jones

http://www.urbannetwork.com/cms/index.php?news=1285

Latest Wireless News

The best wind-up radios

http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/the-best-wind-up-radios

Harvard Radio news

http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/wrn-expands-its-us-rebroadcasting-by-partnering-with-whrv-fm

Museum of Dutch broadcast transmitters

http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/dutch-broadcast-transmitter-museum

Pass the Haggis

"Young Britons are out of touch with their culinary heritage, a survey claims.

They are so ignorant about traditional foods that some regional delicacies risk being lost for ever.

Many thought that the Lincolnshire dish of haslet was a morris dancer's waistcoat.

About 2,000 people were given a list of 10 dishes from around the country and asked to choose a definition for each.

However, although the poll posed few problems for those over 45, more than half of the younger generation were baffled.

Haslet - a salted pork and offal dish - proved particularly tricky, with a quarter of those aged 18-24 identifying it as part of a morris dancer's attire."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/17/nfood117.xml

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

"Looks Tasty!"

How to make 10 loaves of Hawaiian Sweet Bread. Scroll down for a smaller-portion recipe.

This bread is actually a Portuguese invention-we have it here in New England, thanks to the resident population in New Bedford in Massachusetts. But it tastes better when you throw a little pineapple juice into the batter...

"Looks hard at first! Careful with that twang bar..."

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080416/LIVING01/430309505

Get the LED Out

Here's a fascinating interview with slack key master Ledward Ka'apana... if he tried the same stunt today, copper thieves would steal his aerial!

excerpts

"The year he started seventh grade and had to take the bus 12 miles to the high school was the same year transistor radios came to the Big Island.

"The thing wouldn't work unless it was nighttime," he said. "We used to take copper wire and tie it to the top of a coconut tree and then bring the wire all the way down into the house and stick it in the radio. And the thing would catch all the stations from Oahu."

When he listened to the slack key music of Gabby Pahinui from Oahu, "Walk, Don't Run" by the Ventures, country-western and oldies but goodies, his guitar playing absorbed new influences."

http://www.presstelegram.com/lifestyle/ci_8949180

"You Cannot Change the Laws of Physics!"

What is making NASA's twin Pioneer spacecraft mysteriously drift off course, apparently defying the laws of physics? A rigorous new analysis suggests ordinary heat emission can at least partly explain the wayward probes' strange trajectories.

http://space.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn13676&print=true

Wednesday 4/16 Music Digest

Review of the new edition of the "Guitar Hero" game-this version is for Nintendo

http://www.mtv.ca/news/article.jhtml?id=8316

David Byrne talks to the NY Times

http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/the-digital-ramble-a-tour-of-art-and-space/

Arlo Guthrie sighting

http://www.chicoer.com/ci_8937742?source=most_emailed

Return of the Old Settlers' Music Festival to Austin TX

http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=205879

Another new audio product from the fine folks at Altec Lansing. (Disclaimer) No, I do not own stock in Altec, or have a relative working there. I simply love their products. I still use a pair of A-L "Design 1" speakers that are almost 35 years old. These survived having an entire 2 car garage collapse on them with no ill effects and still sound as great as they did in the 1970s.

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9920189-1.html

Nick Lowe sighting

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/nick_lowe_at_your_age_/Content?oid=463146

And Marshall University gets subpoenaed to provide names of students who downloaded music

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/17763434.html

Under Swedish Skies

Sky Delights Over Sweden

Credit and Copyright: P-M Hedén (Clear Skies, TWAN)

"Explanation: This night was a sky enthusiast's delight. While relaxing in Sweden last week, many a cosmic wonder was captured with a single snapshot. They are described here from near to far. In the foreground are nearby trees and more distant snow covered mountains. In silhouette, Clouds can be seen just above the horizon, and a careful eye can even discern the more distant green and red auroras which occur in Earth's upper atmosphere.

Red emission nebulas dot the sky, including the Heart and Soul Nebulas, IC 1396 and the North America Nebula. Running diagonally from the upper left to the lower right is the majestic glowing band of our Milky Way Galaxy's central plane.. More distant than everything else, appearing as it did over two million years ago, is the Andromeda galaxy, visible above the horizon toward on the lower left."

Madame Pele Update

More volcano news from the Big Island of Hawaii

http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=6978

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jlg1Be6sZ_p6C4HaP6QU7yL3bTVAD901T8U00

Music for Geeks

"Think of this software suite as Photoshop, but for music—able to change any note to any other note even if it's buried inside chords or other instruments playing simultaneously.

Up until now, you could only change the entire chord, not individual notes, which would affect the general feel of the tune. But as you can see in the video, DNA gives people much more control."

http://gizmodo.com/380565/amazing-direct-note-access-is-photoshop-for-music

"And There's Hamburger All Over the Highway in Greenwich Connecticut!"

From Illinois...

"A truckload of papayas was sent tumbling this morning when a tractor-trailer driver claimed he lost control while putting a music CD into his radio."

http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/driver_13161___article.html/police_qutierrez.html

"Juuuuust a little bit outside..."

Forget The Rocket. A real astronaut will throw the first pitch at Wednesday night's Yankee game.

NASA astronaut Dr. Garrett Reisman will throw the ceremonial pitch from the International Space Station during Wednesday's game against the Red Sox.

Broadcast on the stadium's JumboTron screens, it will be the first ceremonial first pitch in Yankee history thrown from space.

Reisman, a lifelong Yankee fan, carried a Yankee banner, a cap autographed by George Steinbrenner and a pile of dirt from the Yankee Stadium pitcher's mound with him onboard the International Space Station on March 12.

The New Jersey native said throwing the first pitch will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"I am really honored to have this opportunity, in such a historic season, in the House that Ruth Built," he said.

Reisman, 40, is in the middle of a four-month stay aboard the space station, located more than 200 miles above the Earth's surface. He will return home in June.

Until then, Reisman will remain outer space's biggest Yankee fan.

"From Earth's orbit," he said, "but still deep inside the Yankees universe, let me say, Go Yanks!"

On This Day...

On this day...

1964-The Beatles filmed the "chase scenes" for A Hard Days Night with actors dressed as policemen in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. In the evening they recorded the title track for the film, 'A Hard Day's Night' at Abbey Road. John and Paul had the title first, and had to write a song to order, completing the track in nine takes.

1990-The Nelson Mandela concert took place at London's Wembley Stadium, featuring Simple Minds, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Tracy Chapman and Peter Gabriel.

1993-David Lee Roth was arrested in New York's Washington Square Park for allegedly buying a $10 bag of marijuana.

1993-Paul McCartney headlined a concert at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate 'Earth Day' along with Ringo Starr, Don Henley and Steve Miller. McCartney had last performed there as a member of the Beatles in 1965.

1997-Mark Morrison was convicted with threatening a police officer with an illegal 23,000-volt electric stun gun. The singer left Maryebone Magistrates' Court in tears after being warned he was likely to be sent to prison.

2005- OK Computer by Radiohead was voted the best album of all time in a poll by UK TV station Channel 4. U2 were in second place with The Joshua Tree and Nirvana in third with Nevermind.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Island Music Alert

"Although the proposed redesign to Governors Island won’t be finished until at least 2013, the island’s administrators are coming up with plenty of reasons to pay a visit today. Starting May 31st, the island, which has expansive parks, a full-circle bike path, former military bases and a spectacular view of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, will be open on more days and for longer hours than ever before.

And the calendar of concerts and events is said to be expanding."

http://gothamist.com/2008/04/09/governors_islan_4.php

Governors Island Concert Series:

http://www.govislandconcerts.com/

Win a Free Trip to Hawaii

Break out those cameras, it's Hawaii Magazine's annual photo contest time. If you have a nice pic you took on a prior visit, send her in...

http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2008/4/14/+Win_a_Free_Trip_to_Hawaii

Why the Titanic Sank

"Researchers have discovered that the builder of the Titanic struggled for years to obtain enough good rivets and riveters and ultimately settled on faulty materials that doomed the ship, which sank 96 years ago Tuesday.

The builder’s own archives, two scientists say, harbor evidence of a deadly mix of low quality rivets and lofty ambition as the builder labored to construct the three biggest ships in the world at once — the Titanic and two sisters, the Olympic and the Britannic.

For a decade, the scientists have argued that the storied liner went down fast after hitting an iceberg because the ship’s builder used substandard rivets that popped their heads and let tons of icy seawater rush in. More than 1,500 people died."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/15titanic.html?ref=todayspaper

Ollie Johnston RIP

"For over three decades now, (Disney) animation fans have been quietly counting down. As first John Lounsbury, and then Les Clark slipped away.

Followed by Woolie Reitherman, Milt Kahl and Eric Larsen. Then Marc Davis, Ward Kimball and Frank Thomas. And today word came out of Sequim, WA. that Ollie Johnston -- the last of Walt's Nine Old Men -- had passed away..."

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2008/04/14/remembering-ollie-johnston-1912-2008.aspx

New Eatery at Honolulu Airport

Dewar's Clubhouse, a bar and grill catering to golf aficionados and Scotch lovers, opened at Honolulu International Airport on Tuesday.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/04/14/daily17.html

Tuesday Music Digest

Peter Gabriel's new "Filter"

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/14/technology/peter_gabriel.fortune/?postversion=2008041507

Another preview of JazzFest in New Orleans

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/2008-04-14-jazz-fest_N.htm

Ancient singer Neil Diamond talks about his new album and tour. Neil was featured singing "Sweet Caroline" via video at last week's Red Sox home opener, and will play Fenway Park in August:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijfxTFXXg0GdkCXRyI8Puk3qAZQwD902BNSO1

Bill Cosby finally releases a new album. But hip-hop?

http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/Entertainment/Detail?contentId=6307459&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=7.1.1

Get Bach: Long-lost complete composition discovered

http://www.thelocal.de/11325/20080415/

Elvis sighted in Belfast

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features/daily-features/article3612309.ece

New blues fest to debut in Cincinnati

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/ENT/80415003/1025/LIFE

Radar Love?

“Dream lover” has taken on a whole new meaning. By 2050, you could be falling for a humanoid.

Thanks to computer programming, robots will be almost indistinguishable from humans they will have the same muscles, emotions, voices and talents.

Forget that you’re not exactly from the same mold. Sexually speaking, these sexbots will have proven themselves superior to us.

“Love and sex with robots on a grand scale is inevitable,” according to David Levy, author of Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relations."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351274,00.html

Keef!

Not for the faint of heart-the latest "news" on Keith Richards!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=559851&in_page_id=1773

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s4i33721

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=25596

Jackie Greene Interview

Former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh has a talented band member named Jackie Greene, Here's the poop:

http://www.glidemagazine.com/articles/53336/jackie-greene-the-prince-of-americana.html

News From "Bikini Bottom"

"Half a century after the last earth-shattering atomic blast shook the Pacific atoll of Bikini, the corals are flourishing again. Some coral species, however, appear to be locally extinct.

These are the findings of a remarkable investigation by an international team of scientists from Australia, Germany, Italy, Hawaii and the Marshall Islands. The expedition examined the diversity and abundance of marine life in the atoll."

http://www.coralcoe.org.au/news_stories/bikini.html

Monday, April 14, 2008

Downhill Riding on Mau'i

KAHULUI — Two downhill bicycle companies are pleased with a federal study that shows their companies have had low accident rates at Haleakala National Park.

http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/502575.html?nav=10

Monday's Musical Digest!

Enjoy...

New computer game...virtual Maestro!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jF8vif1T8rNnrsxukifLby3KF7PQD901DGTG0

Another new speaker from the fine folks at Altec Lansing

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=1801&blogid=18

New Brunswick music festival cancelled

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/04/14/saltyjam-cancel.html

Flight of the Conchords

http://blog.mlive.com/mediumfidelity/2008/04/a_flight_im_sad_to_be_missing.html

Aaron Neville is moving back to Louisiana

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20080414b

Paul Simon "Under African Skies"

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/04/14/paul-simon-welcomes-special-guests-under-african-skies-in-brooklyn/

The Singing Rage at age 81

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/vancouver/story.html?id=3a83bd79-c777-42d3-9a26-a4ac20891bbf&k=80289

Legendary NYC music station WNEW returns

http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=141752&pt=todaysnews http://www.1010wins.com/Rock-Format-Back-on-WNEW-Web-Site--HD2/1999129

New recording studio in England-named "Cream"

http://www.4rfv.co.uk/industrynews.asp?id=74386

Waimanalo Blues

Most Oahu visitors don't know the town of Waimanalo by name, but it's the home of Sea Life Park, the musical Pahinui clan, and is where the "Robin's Nest" compound was located on the tv show "Magnum, PI". It's remained remarkably unchanged over the years.

It's also the home to much of the island's veggie industry, and they are going thru a hard time due to a lack of water:

"Lower-than-normal rainfall levels are affecting about 90 Waimanalo farmers and have fire officials on alert as summer brush-fire season approaches.

The state Department of Agriculture announced mandatory 20 percent water restrictions this month at the Waimanalo reservoir, which was at about one-third of its 60 million-gallon capacity last week."

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/14/news/story01.html

Ice Out on the Big Lake

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080414/GJNEWS02/827683769/-1/CITNEWS

Clark's Trading Post Turns 80

"Gentlemen, if getting rid of the winter's growth of beard and/or mustache is on that list, the folks at Clark's Trading Post respectfully ask you to reconsider. As part of the attraction's 80th anniversary on June 28, the Clarks plan a beard and mustache contest in several categories.

Ladies of a certain age, you may continue to pluck and wax -- it's for men only."

http://www.clarkstradingpost.com/

Sunday, April 13, 2008

"Tasty Little Suckers..."

"NEW ORLEANS - Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti looked down at the litter of empty oyster shells in front of him and savored the sweet taste of victory. For Crazy Legs Conti, the bitter taste of defeat could be washed away only by beer.

The Acme World Oyster Eating championship belt — leather, with a silver dish featuring an oyster on the half-shell — hung on Bertoletti's skinny hips. The 22-year-old Chicago resident took the title Saturday by slurping 35 dozen of the big bivalves in eight minutes.

"I could probably do a couple dozen more, especially if they were charbroiled," said Bertoletti, who holds the endurance oyster-eating record, having downed 53 1/2 dozen in 2007 before calling it quits.
"Although they're great raw."

Tim "Gravy" Brown — ranked 13th in the world — was disqualified when he had what professional eaters call a "reversal of fortune." He vomited after 14 dozen."

More tasty details

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_fe_st/odd_oyster_eating_contest

Acme Oyter House website (it's on Rue de Bourbon, natch!

http://www.acmeoyster.com/

Sunday Music Digest

The Pat Metheney Group on DVD-a review

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/04/13/120533.php

Willie Nelson's early days as a Forth Worth DJ:

http://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/story/579082.html

Return of the Monterey Music Summit-

http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=9892

New flashy-looking hearing aids for us Baby Boomers who went to too many J. Geils Band concerts

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080413/FEAT05/804130326/1023

Ivan Neville's band back in New Orleans

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/222716/

The changing face of radio

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2008/04/13/STATE_OF_RADIO.ART_ART_04-13-08_E2_DM9SGP2.html?sid=101

End of an Era at the Grand Canyon

"GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. - At a time when tourists visited the Grand Canyon in stagecoaches, they did their souvenir shopping at a tent set up by a man named John George Verkamp.

It was 1898, before the Grand Canyon was a national park, before there was a National Park Service and before Arizona was even a state. Not many had the means to visit the mile-deep gorge, so it was mostly just a handful of adventurers, prospectors, the American Indians whose people had lived there for centuries, and the Verkamps.

These days, the Grand Canyon has luxury lodges and cute coffee shops. The only thing it won't have come September is the Verkamps."

http://www.examiner.com/a-1337240~Historic_Grand_Canyon_shop_to_close_after_102_years_at_the_rim.html

Verkamps virtual tour

http://www.keeneye.biz/verkamps/virtual_tour.htm

Climb Every Staircase

image courtesy Christopher @ Hollywood Blvd.

Any 3 Stooges fan remembers the short "An Ache in Every Stake", where the boys play ice-men who have to carry a block of ice up an endless set of stairs. Laurel and Hardy also did a similar bit.

The Stooge stairs still exist, as shown above. Here's the story:

http://www.stoogeworld.com/_Videography/Achesteps.htm

And there are many other stairs in the LA area, which people use to get a workout!

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-nustairs14apr14,0,2098543.story

Remembering Don Ho

It's been a whole year since Don Ho left the building...

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080413/NEWS01/804130380/1001/LOCALNEWSFRONT

Aloha Nani Lee

(Honolulu Star-Bulletin Courtesy Photo)

"Nani Lee Meadows, widow of singer and songwriter Kui Lee and an entertainer in her own right, died yesterday after battling cancer for several years, her family said.

She was 76.

Rose Frances Naone Leinani Lee Meadows was a singer and hula dancer who performed on the East Coast in the 1950s and in Waikiki in the 1960s.

She met Lee, who wrote the song "I'll Remember You" for Don Ho, in New York. He was a knife dancer and choreographer when both performed in the Hawaiian Room of the Lexington Hotel.

"She was one of those local girls that had so much personality. She had the passion and loved to dance," said Lani McIntire, a longtime friend. "That's why Kui fell in love with her, I guess."

Returning with Lee to Hawaii in the 1960s, Meadows performed with her husband at Andy's Ebbtide in Kailua and with Don Ho at Honey's and was featured on the Don Ho Greatest Hits album."

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/13/news/story08.html

Two "Extinct" Plants Found Alive and Well

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Two plants that were thought to have been extinct since the late 1800s have been rediscovered in far northern Australia, according to an official report released on Saturday.
The Queensland state government's State of the Environment report said the two species were found on Cape York, in tropical far north Queensland.

"The Rhaphidospora cavernarum, which is a large herb that stands about one and a half meters high, has reappeared," state climate change minister Andrew McNamara told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.
"It hasn't been seen in Queensland since 1873," he said.

He said the second plant that has reappeared, another herb called Teucrium ajugaceum, was last seen in 1891.

The report was produced from research by more than 100 academic and government experts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080412/sc_nm/australia_extinct_dc

Portsmouth Remembers the Thresher

45 years ago this week, us people living in Massachusetts and New Hampshire went thru a local tragedy, when the submarine Thresher, based at Portsmouth, sank off of Cape Cod:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080413/NEWS/804130342/-1/PUBLICRECORDS05

Big Al Circa April 2008

Al with Karyn Rochelle and Vince Gill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElMYOBnKvlU

Al and Vince Gill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7QQAUfzlV8

Mike Love VS Junior Brown

Junior wins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16qsYreBJZE&feature=related

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Lester and Chester!

Les Paul is widely credited with inventing the electric guitar, and Chester Atkins helped make electric guitar popular in in the country music world.

Of course, as the title of this blog suggests, such electric guitar maniacs as Junior Barnard (whose guitar solo this blog is named for) had already played their role.

"Chester and Lester" made two albums in the mid 1970s. Both are well worth seeking out.

Here's a tune they did on the second album, "Guitar Monsters". It's mostly Lester, with Chester strolling in like a violinist in an Italian restaurant...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByGsHTlKmWk

"Here, Chick, Chick, Chick, Chick...."

Anyone who's ever visitied Kaua'i knows about the chickens everywhere.

The chickens have come home to roost in one O'ahu neighborhood as well, and the chicken-cops are having some problems catching them...

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/12/business/story04.html

Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame

The Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame will honor its 2007 inductees with a concert. Details here:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/GETPUBLISHED/804110384/-1/LOCALNEWSFRONT

Don't Fly This! Part 2

More bad news for the parent company of Go! Airlines, which helped run Aloha Air out of business.

http://www.kitv.com/news/15864221/detail.html

World's Oldest Christmas Tree Found

Early news reports that they also found a 7,800 year old owl sitting in a branch were incorrect.

"Scientists in northern Sweden believe they have discovered the world’s oldest living tree dating back nearly 8,000 years, local media said Thursday. A Norway spruce, which was found growing at a height of 950 metres above sea level, is more than two metres (6.5 feet) tall and about 20 centimeters (8 inches) in width.

Shortly after the discovery, scientists sent samples from the tree to a laboratory in Miami, US, and were amazed to learn that the tree was 7,800 years old."

Once again, no pictures-sorry about that!

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/worlds-oldest-8000-years-old-tree-found-in-sweden_10036666.html

We Travel the Spaceways

Sorry, no pictures!

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25 landing on the Red Planet.

"This is our first trajectory maneuver targeting a specific location in the northern polar region of Mars," said Brian Portock, chief of the Phoenix navigation team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The mission's two prior trajectory maneuvers, made last August and October, adjusted the flight path of Phoenix to intersect with Mars.

NASA has conditionally approved a landing site in a broad, flat valley informally called "Green Valley." A final decision will be made after NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter takes additional images of the area this month.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0804/10phoenix/

Auwe!

Tours of Iolani Palace now narrated in Hawaiian

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/12/news/story04.html

Don't Fly This!

"An unexpected delay in the playing of the national anthem during the Boston Red Sox opener at Fenway Park on Tuesday contributed to the unorthodox maneuver by a Vermont Air National Guard pilot during a flyover moments later.

The resulting spectacle -- one F-16 fighter jet looping over and then under the other three to find its place in the traditional V-formation -- ended in the pilot's grounding this week, which in turn prompted a flurry of media attention."

rest of story, which includes a link to a video of the actual flyover as it happened...

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080412/NEWS01/804120314/1009

Saturday's Music Digest

New biography of Willie:

http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/stories/2008/04/0413patoski.html

A MAJOR fan of Der Bingle

http://blog.oregonlive.com/nwheadlines/2008/04/_more_northwest_front_pages_39.html

A new musical about...Knute Rockne???

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2008/04/winning-rockne.html

Dark Star Orchestra keeps the Dead alive

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20080412/AE/693763531

African musicians record a tribute to U2

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a93656/african-musicians-record-u2-tribute.html

Another "Top Music Movies" list-Spinal Tap is #1 in this one!

http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/movies/Top+Music+Movies+1+This+Is+Spinal+Tap-5262.html

RIP to jazz producer George Butler

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_8902381

"1970 - Peter Green announced that he would be leaving Fleetwood Mac."

Watch THE best frickin' song any version of Fleetwood Mac ever did! Filmed live at the Beeb whilst still fresh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE4HGlmtOcg&feature=related

D'OH!

"Advanced ground and space-based telescopes are discovering new planets around other stars almost daily, but an environmental scientist from England believes that even if some of those planets turn out to be Earth-like, the odds are very low they'll have intelligent inhabitants."

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080410-am-intelligence-model.html

Friday, April 11, 2008

"They Say It's You're BIRTHDAY"

Today is mine, at least for a few more minutes Bah!

April 11th: On this Day in Music History

1682 - Composer Jean-Joseph Mouret was born.

1936 - The SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America) was founded.

1956 - James Brown debuts on the R&B charts with "Please, Please, Please."

1961 - Bob Dylan made his professional singing debut in Greenwich Village. He opened for John Lee Hooker.

1966 - NBC broadcast the last episode of "Hulabaloo."

1966 - Frank Sinatra recorded "Strangers in the Night."

1968 - Big Brother & the Holding Company made their national TV debut on ABC's "Hollywood Palace."

1970 - Paul McCartney announced a "temporary break with the Beatles." He cited "personal differences" and adding that he will no longer record with John Lennon.

1970 - Peter Green announced that he would be leaving Fleetwood Mac.

1981 - Edward "Eddie" Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli were married.

1983 - Dave Prater of Sam & Dave was killed in an automobile accident.

1988 - Cher won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in "Moonstruck."

1990 - Elton John sang at the funeral of AIDS victim Ryan White.

1991 - Ringo Starr was a guest on Fox TV's "The Simpsons."

1992 - Lee Greenwood married Kimberly Payne. It was his fifth marriage and her first.

1994 - A Seattle, WA, coroner ruled that Kurt Cobain's (Nirvana) death was a suicide.

1994 - Nirvana's album "In Utero" was certified double-platinum.

1995 - Peter, Paul and Mary released their 17th album, "LifeLines." 1997 - Savage Garden released their self-titled debut album.

2000 - No Doubt released the album "Return to Saturn."

2002 - Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson got engaged.

Merrill Pond

The next weblog project is to chronicle my over-the years-photo record of Merrill Pond, which lies a quarter of a mile northwest, and a hundred feet in elevation, below my location.

The headwaters of Merrill Pond in part are high on Saddle Hill...some years the pond see beavers, but even without them it's a very active biosystem...

This shot is from March of 2007...

Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa

Apparently New Zealand has some of the finest trout fishing in the world... but they also put out some very interesting radio shows via Radio New Zealand International, AKA "The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific "

They have several live listening options, including a live stream and a podcast.

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/audio.php

Kailua 1942

Photos by Grady Morgan

http://hotspotshawaii.com/irhpages/gradymorganphotos.html

Friday Music Digest

By 2012, music purchased online will be 40% of total sales.

http://www.techspot.com/news/29696-digital-sales-will-account-for-40-of-music-by-2012.html

Ringo plays Woodstock

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/ENT04/80407028

National Record Store Day recap

http://www.prefixmag.com/news/record-store-day-recap/18082/

Gibson's Guitar of the Month for April

http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/004321.html

"Careful with that twang bar! Looks hard at first...break it down into syllables and remember the repetition"

http://www.orilliatoday.com/orilliatoday/article/69314

Gilbert and Sullivan's "Mikado" done 2008 style

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/04/11/news/latest_news/a7608881fde59ed186257428005dbeb4.txt

Review of the new Was (Not Was) CD

http://www.scenta.co.uk/music/news/cit/1719539/was-not-was-boo.htm

Best of Lucky Dube

http://www.scenta.co.uk/music/news/cit/1719543/lucky-dube-the-best-of.htm

And finally, a truckload of new Jazz releases

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=17875

Borderline Golf

"Will the only golf course that sits on both sides of the Canada-United States border fall victim to enhanced border security? The future of the Aroostook Valley Country Club – which has served both Americans and Canadians for 81 years – is in doubt if United States Customs border patrol officers enforce entry regulations at the club.

For more than eight decades, Aroostook Valley has been a unique location. Hugging the U.S. - Canada border, both Canadians and Americans have used Brown Road, a small country lane on the American side, to travel to the club. Once their vehicles are parked, golfers from both Canada and the United States walked back across the border to play golf in Canada before returning to their vehicles in the United States."

Tee off here:

http://bugleobserver.canadaeast.com/news/article/264694

Got Snow? Maybe, Maybe Not

CONCORD, NH — The heavy snowfall in Concord, New Hampshire, this winter is four inches short of the record. Or maybe it's two inches.It turns out the woman who makes the official measurements for the National Weather Service in her back yard was in Florida for a week when 13 inches fell in mid-January. And so was her backup, who is her roommate.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/NEWS/80411008/-1/NEWS19&sfad=1

Can Cloud Patterns Forecast Earthquakes?

Sorry, no pictures!

"Can unusual clouds signal the possibility of an impending earthquake? That's the question being asked following the discovery of distinctive cloud formations above an active fault in Iran before each of two large earthquakes occurred.

Geophysicists Guangmeng Guo and Bin Wang of Nanyang Normal University in Henan, China, noticed a gap in the clouds in satellite images from December 2004 that precisely matched the location of the main fault in southern Iran. It stretched for hundreds of kilometres, was visible for several hours and remained in the same place, although the clouds around it were moving. At the same time, thermal images of the ground showed that the temperature was higher along the fault. Sixty-nine days later, on 22 February 2005, an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 hit the area, killing more than 600 people."

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19826514.600-curious-cloud-formations-linked-to-quakes.html

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Aloha "Aunty Nona"

(Aloha Music Camp photo, Mahalo!)

"Aunty" Nona's son, slack key great Keola Beamer, has been a regular on my annual Christmas music collection.

"Longtime entertainer and Hawaiian cultural expert Nona Beamer died today at her home on Maui, her family confirmed. She was 84.

"Aunty Nona" was a legend in Hawaii, known for her singing, ukulele playing, hula dancing, and song writing.

Winona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha Beamer was the matriarch of the musical Beamer family, including sons Keola and Kapono, and was one of the world's foremost authorities on Hawaiian culture and a noted hula teacher."

http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=6957

4/10 Music Digest

And the hits keep on comin'

One of our fellow Google bloggers is a guy in Virginia who does a weekly jazz radio show-he recently did a program featuring Hugh Masekela. Listen here:

http://www.freedomjazzdance.net/

Elvis is back in the building-new 1972 photos from a concert at Madison Square Garden surface.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080410/ap_en_mu/elvis_at_the_garden

George Clinton is funking around with a new album

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20080410/AE/82381979

Interview with Bryan Ferry

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/11/sv_bryanferry.xml&DCMP=ILC-traffdrv07053100

Confessions of a music reviewer!

http://www.cinemablend.com/music/Confessions-Of-A-Music-Reviewer-9903.html

Marty, Hank and Emmylou:

http://www.hiphop-elements.com/article/read/4/21066/1/

1980s Pop Relics on tour:

http://www.nbc5i.com/entertainment/15848212/detail.html

And lastly, the 1947 musical "Brigadoon" returns to Broadway...

http://www.ticketnews.com/Brigadoon-heads-back-to-Broadway481098145

Flying to Hawaii? Be Prepared to Pay More

HONOLULU — Airline executives told Congress today that the recent shutdown of Aloha and ATA airlines will result in fewer flights to the Islands and fare increases of $200 between Hawai'i and the Mainland.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/BREAKING01/80410039/-1/LOCALNEWSFRONT

More Spam

Almost time for the annual Spam Jam Fest in Hawai'i...tasty!

http://www.hawaiinews.com/archives/entertainment/000454.shtml

"Mysterious Traveler" Reappears!

I mentioned Weather Report bassist Jaco Pastorious yesterday...after 22 years missing in outer space, his bass guitar, fondly known as the "Bass of Doom", has "mysteriously" reappeared in New York.

http://www.bassplayer.com/article/jacos-1962-fender/mar-08/34267

Mysteriously enough, the Weather Report album "Mysterious Traveler" was done with the bassist who immediately preceded Jaco, Alphonso Johnson.

Japan to Grow New Islands

Japan will try to grow an island of coral in the Pacific

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/10/eajapan110.xml

"You Can't Get There From Here"

"Britain's historic bridges, buildings and roads are under threat from drivers blithely following satellite navigation directions, a conservation society warned yesterday.

Among those which have been damaged by traffic driving down unsuitable roads is a 200-year-old bridge in Oxfordshire, a 300-year-old cottage in Greater Manchester and Pevensey Castle in East Sussex, according to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings."

Have your computer GPS navigate to the link below for more details!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/10/nsatnav110.xml

Don't Fly This!

SANFORD, Fla. -- A seaplane attempting to take off in an alligator-infested lake crashed when it clipped an alligator floating on top of the water, the pilot said.

Officials said the seaplane was one of two trying to take off from Lake Jesup in Seminole County on Thursday when it crashed.

The pilot, identified by officials as William Furr, suffered head injuries and a broken ankle and had to be rescued from the sinking plane by a boater.

After being pulled from the wreckage, Furr told emergency crews that his aircraft clipped an alligator.

more scary details:

http://www.local6.com/news/15844028/detail.html

Today In Music History

In 1998, an appeals court in San Francisco ruled The Kingsmen were owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties from their 1963 recording of "Louie Louie." The band's contract gave them nine per cent of the profits or licensing fees, but never received a cent from two companies who held the recording rights.

In 1956, singer Nat "King" Cole was beaten up on stage by six anti-black vigilantes in Birmingham, Alabama. The white audience did not interfere.

In 1962, Stuart Sutcliffe, the Beatles' original bass guitarist, died at 21 following a brain hemorrhage in Hamburg, West Germany. Sutcliffe was invited in 1959 by fellow art student John Lennon to join his group, The Quarrymen, even though Sutcliffe couldn't play. He left the group in 1961.

In 1970, Doors lead singer Jim Morrison offered to display his genitals to a Boston audience. The group's keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, physically removed Morrison from the stage. Morrison had been arrested in Miami a year earlier for "lewd and lascivious behaviour" during a performance...

"Mmmmm, Beer......"

The original formula of Schlitz beer is set to make a comeback.

http://beerinfood.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/original-formula-schlitz-coming-back-to-chicago/

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Wednesday April 8 Music Digest

RIP to Nashie's sister

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_8851854

Ringo Starr loses his head:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3702266.ece

The Rutles play Che Stadium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F86ph2Sd0iI

A legendary guitar teacher passes, followed by a profile of his most famous student

http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=51458

http://www.well.com/~wellvis/jbyrd.html

More ukulele music, this time from Canada's Langley Ukulele Ensemble:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/trailrosslandnews/news/17403719.html

Herb Alpert and wife Lani Hall (who just started a rare US tour) have given a rather generous gift to a major institution of higher learning

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iPIUlU7sjn5x7a3TJ2FjAdy18E1gD8VUGEV80

And finally, Bob Marley's mother dies...

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/obituaries/general/view.bg?articleid=1086095&srvc=rss

First Annual Record Store Day

Support your local record store!

Here's a plea from "Euclid Joe", who is another contributor to the NRBQ e-mail list, Take it away, Joe!

"April 19th will be the first annual (I hope it's annual) Record Store Day around the world. Indie stores all over will be having sales, live music, giveaways and special releases. As the compact disc finds its way to the 8 track and beta shelf, stores such as mine have to hustle harder than ever to make it selling the music that we love.

I'm certainly not going to claim poverty, actually Euclid Records is doing pretty well right now, as are the majority of what remains of the great record store demise of the late 90's. But it's always a roller coaster, sales of vinyl are going through the roof right now, but that can change at a moments notice. I feel as though the best stores are still standing. We got rid of the riff raff and thankfully many of the lousy chain stores have closed up too.

That said, we're always fighting the Walmarts and Best Buys of the world, but we're not the only business fighting those demon chains. The most important thing is to do is get kids into the routine of going to the local record store and get the older folks back into that routine.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox, but on the 19th, show your support for your favorite local music slinger. Chances are they're involved with this and they'll have some cool happenings. Euclid will be celebrating with a combination of on-line and in-store sales, BBQ and The Bottle Rockets live acoustic to boot!

For more on Record Store Day, check out my blog posting:

http://euclidrecords.blogspot.com/search/label/RECORD%20STORE%20DAY

For participating stores, check out: http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

Happy Record Store Day Everyone!

Euclid Joe"

Southern Vittles-Good News and Bad News

The bad news first...our friend John Silbermann, the very talented owner/chef of Magnolias Southern Cuisine in Cambridge MA, will be selling the restaurant soon and moving back south. John learned his trade in N'Awlins with the great Paul Prudhomme, and moved up here to New England where he started a great eatery called the Cajun Yankee. For many years since then he's run Mag's, which is a funky little place on Cambridge Street. No word on whether the new owner will keep the menu or what.

And the good news: the Food Menu for this year's JazzFest in New Orleans is out. Good eating!

http://www.nojazzfest.com/index.php?http%3A//www.nojazzfest.com/foodcrafts/food-list08.php

Tom Staley Sighting

On occasion I chat via e-mail with drummer Tom Staley in Florida. Tom, aka "The Time Bomb", was the original drummer for NRBQ, and we both share a love of the late great jazz fusion band Weather Report, which is how we started talking. Tommy actually played with WR's gifted bassist Jaco Pastorious.

Tom left the Q to raise a family in the early 1970s, but has gotten back into the music scene in Florida with his own band, called "Sackowoe" . Here they are at a recent gig in Clearwater:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDx0atJous0

"Don't Go Near the Water"

That was the rather strange title of a latter day Beach Boys song, but in this case it refers to recent shark sightings along Kaua'i's North Shore:

http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=6950

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Friday, April 18, 2008

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Monday, April 14, 2008

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Friday, April 11, 2008

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Today's Meredith NH Star/Satellite Forecast

Current Laconia NH Airport (LCI) Time and Temp (LCI is 455 feet in elevation below Saddle Hill)

View From Saddle Hill, June 2015

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