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Archive for June, 2008

My Ticket

The Black Crowes, soulful purveyors of music’s most authentic brand of rock n’ roll, played the second show of their “Euphoria or Bust” tour last night - June 28, 2008 – at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in New Hampshire. We were there…In the front row…It was awesome.

Luther DickinsonThis new tour follows the release of their much acclaimed 7th studio album, Warpaint, and marks the debut of the band’s two new members, guitarist Luther Dickinson and keyboardist Adam MacDougall. I think the story of the night was Luther Dickinson (pictured on the left), who featured as prominently as Chris Robinson’s always impeccable vocals throughout the night. The set list seemed to be designed, in large part, as a platform for highlighting Dickinson’s slide guitar playing acumen. He really was incredible; ripping frequent, extended solos and injecting – if you can imagine it – even more richness into slide guitar staples from the Crowes’ catalogue, like Descending (hence the post title, which comes from the lyrics in Descending).

Right from the start, the band as a whole played as strong as I have ever heard them, quickly settling into their blend of, as Dennis Cook put it in a recent Crowes interview, “bohemian gospel, dirt road blues, freshly harvested psychedelia, uncut funk and tear-in-your-beer country.” My favorite song of the night, which also happens to be my favorite Crowes song of all, was Thorn In My Pride – it was just a great show! To top it all off, one of our other favorite bands, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, opened the show (Grace is pictured below)! I could go on…but anyway, here is the Crowes’ set list, as best I can recollect:

Grace Potter

  1. Move It On Down the Line
  2. Evergreen
  3. Gone
  4. Cosmic Friend
  5. Nebakanezer
  6. Locust Street
  7. Never Ending Song of Love (by Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett)
  8. My Heart’s Killing Me
  9. Whoa Mule
  10. Wee Who See the Deep
  11. Thorn In My Pride
  12. Descending
  13. Twice as Hard
  14. Virtue and Vice
  15. Wounded Bird
  16. Hung Upside Down
  17. Hey Grandma

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When the Olympics were held in Atlanta 13 years ago, a local radio station from East Dublin, GA wanted to draw some of the Olympic crowds to their little town. What could they possibly do to accomplish this? Create the “Summer Redneck Games”, of course!

A week from today, on July 5th, the 13th Annual Summer Redneck Games will commence. With around 10,000 attendees each year, it has grown into quite the shin-dig. Rednecks compete for the respect of their fellow Southerners and trophies appropriately made out of crushed beer cans (something to proudly display on their mantels – although, I’m not sure trailers have mantels).

A local asphalt layer (who happens to have no teeth and goes by the name of Elbow) is the Games’ mascot. Every year, Elbow kicks off the festivities by using the Redneck Games torch to light the Ceremonial Grill.

 

The games include everything from the Mud-Pit Belly Flop (competitors are judged on beauty of form and size of splash), Bobbing for Pigs Feet (ugh!), Dumpster Diving, the Armpit Serenade, Redneck Horse Shoes (with toilet seats!), and a Seed Spittin’ Contest. In addition, they have live bands and other forms of entertainment like swimming in the watering hole, Redneck Idol, and the Miss Redneck competition.

 

CMT put together a short documentary on the Redneck Games – not something you see everyday!

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I have been fascinated with astronomy and space exploration for as long as I can remember, but even if you don’t really care, you will be amazed by these pictures. This is by far the best collection of Mars images I’ve seen anywhere – these 17 pictures and animations are incredible! And just imagine the what we’ll be looking at 10, 30, 50 years from now!

Martian Skies

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These days many of us feel the need to be constantly connected. Being surrounded by technology in today’s “wired” world makes living in this uber-productive and connected state easy as pie. The downside? Well, we don’t watch where we are going and tend to walk into things on the sidewalk.

This photo was taken on a London street (credit: FNC), which is already experimenting with padded lampposts to prevent texting-while-walking injuries. Hilarious!

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In Science:

Sarcasm Seen as Evolutionary Survival Skill

What great news! I fully embrace any and all evidence that justifies my predisposition towards being a sarcastic ass :)

In Real Estate & Construction:

Ailing Builders Getting Back Into Land Game

Interesting article on the current market’s effect on land value and current activity by construction firms to stockpile land (at low prices) in anticipation of renewed residential construction activity. Builders are slashing prices to clear the glut of inventory left in the wake of the housing bubble, and at the same time, slowly “re-coiling the spring” of new land development by taking advantage of the pass-through effect of low prices on the cost of raw land. 

In Sports:

The World’s Greatest Athlete

A panel of sports experts sifts through a mountain of data and pick the fastest, strongest, most agile athlete on Earth. Oh please don’t let it be A-Rod…

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Broadening our perspective on some of the important things in life - like the state of humanity, gas, and of course, beer:

  • The World Clock - Check out the World Clock (click link or picture) to see active running statistics on population, deaths, illnesses, energy use, environment, food, crimes, and more. If you click on “Day,” “Week,” or “Year” it shows running totals for that period, if you click “Now” it will reset the counters to zero.

The World Clock

  • The Price of Gas – I gathered data on the price of gas in 28 countries as of early June. Guess which country still has the cheapest gas of all? Four bucks a gallon really sucks, I’m just saying, it’s a lot worse pretty much everywhere else.

Retail Gas Prices by Country

Pint Price

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I’d expect a “Celebrity 100″ list from People Magazine, but I was surprised today to see that Forbes.com published an extensive online feature on the top 100 celebs. I have to admit – reading celebrity magazines are a guilty pleasure of mine. Although, I only read them when I travel or when I visit the apartment of my friend Craig - he, lucky for me, is a current subscriber to US Weekly. No, he isn’t gay – far from it – the subscription was a result of a Best Buy promotion.

Anyways, the Forbes list ranks the most powerful and best paid celebrities from June 2007 to June 2008 - factoring in celebrity earnings, media metrics like Google hits, press mentions (according to Factiva), TV/radio mentions (according to Lexis/Nexis) and the number of times the celeb appears on the cover of more than 50 consumer magazines.

Oprah is #1 (obviously), Tiger Woods came in at #2 (congrats – he won the US Open yesterday), and Angelina Jolie (a personal favorite) came in at #3. Kobe Bryant came in at #19 (loser – go Celtics!). Check out the list of 1-25 below. The full coverage (plus, LOTS of photos) are at Forbes.com.

Rank Name Pay ($mil) Web Rank Press Rank TV Rank
1 Oprah Winfrey 275 2 5 1
2 Tiger Woods 115 12 1 3
3 Angelina Jolie 14 1 9 15
4 Beyonce Knowles 80 3 32 14
5 David Beckham 50 10 3 18
6 Johnny Depp 72 17 19 36
7 Jay-Z 82 6 43 41
8 The Police 115 15 20 51
9 J.K. Rowling 300 23 27 64
10 Brad Pitt 20 4 8 7
11 Will Smith 80 26 39 32
12 Justin Timberlake 44 5 24 17
13 Steven Spielberg 130 34 23 60
14 Cameron Diaz 50 13 50 45
15 David Letterman 45 42 34 10
16 LeBron James 38 32 13 13
17 Jennifer Aniston 27 21 67 49
18 Michael Jordan 45 38 45 29
19 Kobe Bryant 39 28 18 24
20 Phil Mickelson 45 87 12 23
21 Madonna 40 15 20 67
22 Simon Cowell 72 65 47 40
23 Roger Federer 35 40 2 26
24 Alex Rodriguez 34 51 7 6
25 Jerry Seinfeld 85 79 72 38

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Speaking of Plant & Krauss…David Fricke with Rolling Stone has written a great piece about the duo:

How a rock legend and a bluegrass queen became the unlikeliest match in rock & roll. On the road with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

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A long first paragraph describing how we came to decide on our next vacation destination would be pointless, as I’ve already revealed it in my clever blog title (I should have been a rapper – could have put my superior rhyming skills to better use.)

Anyways, Buzz headed to Texas, ya’ll!

We just ordered our tickets and booked our flight for a trip to the Austin City Limits music festival. We’ll head out for the 3-day festival, which starts on September 26th, and stay for a few extra days to check out the city and surrounding Texas Hill Country and just relax (ahem, recover) before heading home to Beantown.

Austin is the “live music capital of the world,” so even though I haven’t heard of a lot of the 130 bands that will play at Austin City Limits, I’m sure I’ll have a blast and enjoy all of the music, nonetheless. I’m totally looking forward to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Beck, John Fogerty, G Love & Special Sauce, The Black Keys, Mason Jennings, Shooter Jennings and Joe Bonamassa. Heck – I’ll probably even dance until my feet hurt. If you are going the festival and see a blonde girl that dances like Elaine Benes from Seinfeld – it is probably me.

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Along with the hot weather in New England comes a few of my favorite things – ice cream, sun, outdoor activities, BBQs, and flip flops. I’m a casual gal and I’ve always felt that I had “sensitive” feet. Huh? Well, either I have sensitive feet or I just don’t understand the “beauty is pain” concept when it comes to shoes. Trying to avoid uncomfortable shoes at all costs means that flip flops are a staple of my summer wardrobe. I’m thinking about getting a few new pairs (although Dan will probably tell you I have too many already). :-) Here are a few flip flops on my want list:

Teva Olowahu- Already have two pairs. Most comfortable things ever! They come in a variety of colors/patterns. I’ve seen them at City Sports, Eastern Mountain Sports, and REI in the past, but you can order them online too.

Teva Olowahu

Old Navy Flip Flops – Every year, I buy at least a couple sets of flip flops from Old Navy. They come in every color and are really cheap – usually $5 or less. This year, they’ve got some funky criss cross sandals and jellies.

Old Navy Flip Flop SandalsOld Navy Jellies

Roxy Zuma – Roxy has some real cute flip flops in a variety of styles, but I like these best.

Reef Ginger – I’ve never owned a pair of Reefs, but some of my friends swear by them. This style comes in a bunch of different colors too.

Reef Ginger

Reef Libson – Another style of Reefs – these you could pull off at the office!

Reef Libson

Havaianas Lake Green Flip Flops- Never really heard of Havaianas Flip Flops, but they seem to be a pretty popular brand from what I gather. Thought these were cute!

Havaianas Flip Flops

Got any suggestions for comfortable summer shoes???

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U.S. Supreme Court Justices

 

The nation will live to regret what the court has done today.” Justice Antonin Scalia, in dissent of Thursday’s Supreme Court decision

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. So let’s get this straight, Islamic-jihadists, terrorists are entitled to American constitutional protections??? What’s next, our Marines need to pull-up in the heat of battle to issue Miranda Rights?

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing in support of the court’s decision, said, “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.

Yes, of course – But at the same time, as Abraham Lincoln said in response to charges he was violating the Constitution when he suspended habeas corpus during the American Civil War, “the Constitution is not a suicide pact.” What does this mean? It means that, in some instances, bending over backwards to support “legal niceties” should not always take priority over our national security. Thomas Jefferson expressed the same sentiment when he made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 (since he believed a strict interpretation of the Constitution did not actually give the federal government the right to acquire foreign territory):

A strict observance of the written law is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to the written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the ends to the means.”

Thursday’s decision by the Court (made with the slimmest possible 5-4 majority) is dangerous, not only in principle, but also literally dangerous to our nation.

From the NY Daily News: In sum, the court bestowed upon the judiciary the power to decide who can be held as an enemy combatant whenever judges feel inclined to intervene.

In dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts criticized his colleagues for striking down what he called “the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens detained by this country as enemy combatants.” As Roberts put it, Americans “today lose a bit more control over the conduct of this nation’s foreign policy to unelected, politically unaccountable judges,” a group that is hardly qualified to make life-and-death calls as to which prisoners are terrorists and which are simple goatherds, as they all claim to be.

Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas also dissented. Scalia said the nation is “at war with radical Islamists” and that the court’s decision “will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.”

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I don’t regularly listen to NPR, but I’ll tune into almost anything when someone as brilliant as George Will (one of the most widely recognized writers in America) is on. George was a guest on Tom Ashbrook’s show, OnPoint, for about 40 minutes on Monday, during which time, he discussed a whole bunch of topics, including conservatism, cycles in American society, Madison’s framing of the Constitution, the upcoming election, past elections, the war, foreign policy, and climate change economics.

To be sure, I don’t agree with George Will on every issue, but the man’s commentary is always punishingly reasoned and incisive – I love it! I mean, it is so easy to appreciate his writing and commentary whether or not you agree with his point of view. To paraphrase a caller from the radio show, he writes about issues without rancor and vitriol towards dissenting opinions, and because of that, it allows you to understand and think about things without all the rhetorical filler that normally permeates political journalism.

Anyway, I guess the point of this post is just to say I really enjoy reading his columns, and to point you to the Audio File of his OnPoint appearance if you want to listen. Also, he has a new book, One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation, which I’ve moved to the top of my ‘to read’ list :)

Addendum: George Will gave the commencement speech at Boston University when I graduated in 2003. The subject was baseball so, as commencement speeches go, it was surprisingly tolerable.

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The wisecracking cartoon fish that recently appeared on the sides of Green Line trolleys in Boston got a stinky reception from train conductors

The Issue: Legal Sea Foods owner Roger Berkowitz says he’s sorry for the “fresh fish” ad campaign on the MBTA that offended train operators in Boston (get it…”fresh” as in, wise-ass, not recently-caught). Stephan MacDougall, a union rep for MBTA operators, said Berkowitz is an elitist and insensitive. He said he’s organizing a boycott of Legal Sea Foods. The ads feature “fresh” wisecracking cartoon fish that deliver lines such as: “Hey lady, I’ve seen smaller noses on a swordfish,” “This trolley gets around more than your sister,” and “This conductor has a face like a halibut.”

Conclusions:

  1. Here we have the latest example – among an untold number – of a group of people pulling the plug on common sense in the name of “taking offense” to something.
  2. The ads are harmless, mildly amusing, clearly tongue-in-cheek, and I, like Roger Berkowitz, cannot fathom how anyone would honestly be insulted by them.
  3. Stephan G. MacDougall is a stooge.
  4. I have a great excuse to show my support by splurging on an awesome dinner at Legal this weekend.

More Details: This week, after the trolley conductors union complained to T management, the agency’s top brass ordered the immediate removal of the “this conductor” ads, deeming them in poor taste. “To say they are angered and offended is to put it lightly,” MacDougall said. “I will tell you this: If they don’t come down, we will not drive those trains.”

Proofs of the ads were sent to the T’s advertising contractor, Titan, which approved them earlier this year. Ads went up on 25 Green Line trolleys on May 20 and were scheduled to run through mid July. T officials said they have not received complaints from riders.

Boston Globe article.

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For those of you looking to participate in the next World Beard and Moustache Championships, you better get cracking because the competition is fierce! The next competition will be held in Anchorage, Alaska on May 23, 2009. Check out some of the previous winners – unbelievable!

Elmar Weisser (Brigachtal, Germany) – World champion in the full beard freestyle category in 2005 (beard pays tribute to Berlin and the famous Bradenburg Gate).

Gunnar Rosenquist (Gothenburg, Sweden) – Third place in the full beard natural category in the 2006 European Championships.

Willi Chevalier (Sigmaringen, Germany) – Winner of the partial beard freestyle category at all world championship events (with the exception of 2003).

Check out more photos of magnificent facial hair here.

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Source: Townhall.com

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Eric Clapton Ticket

Elicia mentioned in her earlier post that we saw the legendary Eric Clapton last night at Great Woods in Mansfield (a.k.a Tweeter Center, and as of yesterday, Comcast Center). I miss the old days of roaming the lawn, but it is still a terrific venue to see a concert and we all had a great time getting our mojo workin’ too! Clapton and his band were amazing – they played a very cool, energetic set of mostly blues songs, including a bunch of covers. He covered Jimi Hendrix, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Blind Joe Reynolds, Muddy Water, Bill Broonzy, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, and others. I’m a huge fan of blues music so it was a sweet surprise and just an all around awesome display (I mean, if you want to hear all his “hits,” you can always pop in a CD). My favorite song of the night might have been his spine-tingling cover of Little Wing but – wow – it is a really tough call.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band opened the show with a 45-minute set of their unique foot-stompin’, country-funk-blues style, including I Need More Love, Deliver Me, an instrumental cover of Voodoo Child, and a tribute to the late Bo Diddley.

Here are the local papers’ reviews of the show: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, The Providence Journal. And here is Clapton’s set list from the show:

  1. Motherless Children
  2. Key to the Highway
  3. Hoochie-Coochie Man
  4. Little Wing
  5. Outside Woman Blues
  6. Double Trouble
  7. Don’t Knock My Love
  8. Driftin’ Blues
  9. Rockin’ Chair
  10. Motherless Child
  11. Traveling Riverside Blues
  12. Running on Faith
  13. Tell the Truth
  14. Little Queen of Spades
  15. Before You Accuse Me
  16. Wonderful Tonight
  17. Layla
  18. Cocaine
  19. Got My Mojo Workin’ (with Robert Randolph)

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This week might just be my wackiest yet of 2008.

So, to kick things off on Monday night I attended the Publicity Club of New England’s annual Bell Ringers – the Oscars of the New England PR world. I enjoyed myself – food was good and I loved the steel drum band. The award show usually runs about 4 hours, so I didn’t get home until after 11pm. After getting only about 3 hours of sleep, Dan and I were then ripped from our slumber by the pungent smell of burning house.

I guess some old wires short circuited behind one of the walls in the hallway that leads up to the apartment above us (we live in a two-family). We stood out on the curb for 2 hours while about 20 Newton firemen gathered around the house, geared up and then entered the “danger zone.” Our apartment didn’t suffer any damage – as the fire stayed within the walls – but the whole house was filled to the brim with smoke. The couple that lives upstairs, however, haven’t really been home since the fire because they can’t use their bathroom (the firemen had to rip up the walls to extinguish the fire in the wall on the floor below.)

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On top of all this, work has been hectic. We made a HUGE announcement for one of my clients, so we’ve been busy, to say the least. In addition, Dan and I went to go see Eric Clapton last night at Great Woods (aka The Comcast Center, formerly the Tweeter Center). The concert was a blast. The second we walked through the gates I said to Dan’s mom “so, what are the chances we’re going to run into someone we know?” Out of the thousands of people at the venue, within minutes of us being there, we ran into a whole family that we knew from Hopkinton. I called it.

Because of the fire, we’ve also had workers in and out of our apartment – insurance adjusters, cleaning crews, electricians, and the like. Luckily I’ve got a couple days off – and I need them. My sister’s bridal shower is this weekend and I’ve got to wrap up the planning. Can you say “go, go, go?”

Despite all the craziness, we were really lucky that the fire wasn’t worse. There was no damage to our “stuff”, and, more importantly, no one got hurt!

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Jihadists read history and politics through the prism of their distinctive theological convictions, not through the lens of western assumptions about the progressive dynamic of history.” George Weigel – Faith, Reason, and the War against Jihadism

I have plenty of political opinions just like everybody else but I really do not want to delve into issues like this on a regular basis on this blog. But this issue, understanding the threat posed by Iran, is so important – please bear with me.

Here is what Iranian President Ahmadinejad (hereinafter, A-hole) said on Monday at a United Nations food summit, of all places:

I must announce that the Zionist regime (Israel)…is about to die and will soon be erased from the geographical scene. Today, the time for the fall of the satanic power of the United States has come and the countdown to the annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth has started. I tell you that with the unity and awareness of all the Islamic countries all the satanic powers will soon be destroyed.”

Gees, point taken, douche bag. Iran, with leaders like A-hole, is already a very serious threat and has the potential to be a threat unlike any western civilization has faced previously: apocalyptics with nuclear weapons. The last time we faced a serious nuclear threat was during the Cold War. But this situation is SO very different and deterrence strategies, in this case, will not work. Allow me to quote an example from George Weigel’s excellent book that highlights the key reason why:

In Iran, eleventh-grade textbooks teach that ‘in the coming era-ending war against the infidels, Muslims cannot lose: Either we all become free, or we will go to the greater freedom of martyrdom. Either we shall shake one another’s hand at the victory of Islam in the world, or all of us will turn to eternal life and martyrdom. In both cases, success and victory are ours’.”

You see, during the Cold War, fear of our mutually-assured destruction was a primary deterrent that held both countries at bay (i.e., the Soviet Union and the United States both knew that if one country bombed the other, both countries would be wiped off the map). The key point here is that A-hole and other jihadists are apocalyptics for whom “mutually-assured destruction is an inducement rather than a deterrent.” The jihadists prize martyrdom – they want the battle we never engaged in during the Cold War. And A-hole is doing everything he can to hasten the achievement of that goal.

The consensus opinion (more often proven to be incorrect than correct) is that Obama will be the next President of the United States. I don’t presume so. But, if he is elected, then before he makes arrangements for tea and crumpets with this psychotic despot from Iran, Obama ought to stop and seriously consider the nature of this complex problem and what it would mean if Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons. Thomas Sowell does a great job of summarizing Obama’s flawed position on Iran:

Senator Obama’s foreign policy seems to be somewhere between Rodney King’s ‘Can’t we just get along?’ and Alfred E. Neuman’s ‘What, me worry?’”

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