Recently in Music Category

Glorious spring Sunday here at CrabAppleLane. Excuse the short one but I have to get back out in it. I offer one from the CrabAppleLane front yard and one from the CrabAppleLane backyard.

CrabAppleLane Redbud - March 2, 2008

CrabAppleLane Backyard - March 2, 2008

Quote of the Day

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield.

John Fogerty, Centerfield

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "We won’t have Dish or phone service until Friday, but the payoff is high-speed internet so Huzzah! H is hella excited because high-speed internet = XBOXLIVEOMIGOD. We may never see him again."

My two fantasy playoff teams (Ragpickers and Erasers) find themselves in an unfamiliar position halfway through the Colts-Chargers game. They're in contention. Both teams benefited from Ryan Grant's huge day yesterday. Indy's loss will hurt both of those teams, though. Hopefully, it will hurt everyone else about the same. There will be a new Super Bowl Champion. I suppose I'm now rooting for the Chargers, Giants, and Packers. Not wild about the Pats or Cowboys.

A little joke I read today that my friend, Ken, might appreciate:
Perfect Pitch - When you throw an accordion into a dumpster and it lands on a banjo

Started tinkering with one of my Christmas presents yesterday. The first record I tried was Joe Walsh's Barnstorm from 1972 ... because it was already out. Mixed results. I think I'll need some headphones. On my computer speakers, it's hard to listen closely enough to hear through the pops whether the record skipped or not, especially on songs you haven't listened to in 30 years or so. I also determined that a little practice will be required to get good results. I can't tell you the last time I had to balance a tone arm and I'm still not sure I did it satisfactorily. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you might want to ask your parents. :)

I offer three images depicting the three stages of my 15-mile road trip today. The weather here at CrabAppleLane is simply magnificent. Was yesterday, too, but I squandered most of the day. Would surely like a do over.

On the way out - January 13, 2008 - In Whippoorwill Grove near CrabAppleLane

In between - January 13, 2008 - Lance Armstrong would not approve of my training regimen.

On the way in - January 13, 2008 - Off Highway 40 in Bush, LA - Near CrabAppleLane

Quote of the Day

Hey now
The wells run dry
Pages of your book on fire
Read the writing
On the wall

Joe Walsh, Turn To Stone

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I myself celebrate Festivus. Not because I'm just a Seinfeld fan, but because I know every line... word for word... and I know every single possible thing there is to know about Seinfeld. I could answer any question about Seinfeld."

This is a temporary url. CrabAppleLane Blog will be at http://www.crabapplelane.net/roblog as soon as I can make the transition.

Led Zeppelin is getting back together for one show only according to Reuters and MSNBC. It's a benefit concert and I think it will raise a lot of money. To say that will be a hot ticket is an understatement. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have toured a few times together playing almost exclusively Led Zeppelin music but that's not quite the same thing from a marketing standpoint. It doesn't create the same buzz. Expectations are lower. I saw two of those shows and they were excellent. Jon Bonham's son, Jason, played drums with them for another Atlantic Records event some years ago and did a great job. Should be fun. I hope a DVD is forthcoming.

Looks like we'll finally get to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. They obviously have two complete bands/orchestras as they're scheduled to be in New Orleans, LA and Worcester, MA on the same day at the same time. Looking forward to November 10.

About a year and a half ago, I thought the New England Patriots organization was the class of the NFL. I have changed my opinion of them. They were caught cheating against the Jets this past Sunday. They were videotaping hand signals from the Jets coaches. Stealing signals is OK if you can figure them out on the fly. That's a time-honored art in sports. Major League Baseball coaches and players do it or try to do it all the time. What's different about this is the videotaping. Doing so gives you time to study them for use later in the game. They were caught last year in Green Bay doing the same thing. In fact, it was the same cameraman. And, now, the Steelers are saying they've been doing it for years. I think a very stiff penalty is coming. I don't think the league has a choice. They cannot show favoritism to one of their marquee teams. A slap on the wrist would surely be interpreted that way.

Quote of the Day

OK. Yep. That's all. OK. Thank you.

Bill Belichick, New England Patriots Head Coach

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "All the Steelers had to do in this game was sit back and watch the Browns implode. The Steelers started three drives in Browns territory in the first quarter because of turnovers and before you could blink an eye the Steelers were up 17-0."

Looking forward to the release of Kill To Get Crimson (Due out September 18). There are fewer musicians on this release than normal. Hopefully, that might mean more of his guitar. He's been on this bluesy, folksy, Celtic path for a few years now and this CD looks like it is more of the same. That's fine by me. I like that and no one does it better. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing and hearing more of that fabulous guitar stuff. About the title: It's a line in one of the songs.

The Saints are in Kansas City for an exhibition game with the Chiefs and the starters are going to play a little longer than they have the last three weeks. There is only one goal tonight. Get out of this game with no substantial injuries.

14 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

All of the time we had
Living underground
I move to station number 5
See you next time around

Montrose, Space Station No. 5

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "one part, the quiet part.
the small, still part. that knows. said, “you have many things to do, that you will find joy in doing!”"

There's another stanza to that. It made my morning. Go see. -Rob

About today's QOTD and BOTD: It's about the way concert tickets get to concert goers these days. I've never paid a broker/scalper for tickets, unless you call Ticketmaster a broker/scalper. I have a few other choice names for them but that's another story. My routine was to call the concert information line periodically and try to find out who's coming and when. That simple amount of legwork was enough to give me an edge. That's all changed. Bands announce when and where they'll be and the whole world can find out easily online. Concerts rarely sold out instantly when I was going to them. With the internet, they do now. Back in the days when I used to go to The Warehouse, you could usually buy General Admission tickets on the day of the concert and work your way up close to the stage. One of the bands mentioned in the USA Today article was Rush. Just boggles my mind. I paid $6 to see them at the top of their game from maybe 15 feet from the stage. Now, it would cost hundreds or thousands if you could even get that close. The last "big" concert I went to was Pink Floyd in the Superdome in 1994. I called Ticketmaster in New Orleans the instant the tickets went on sale at 10AM one Saturday morning. Busy, busy, busy. I used another trick up my sleeve that not too many others thought of. I called Ticketmaster in Baton Rouge at about 10:05AM, got right through, and had my tickets for the New Orleans show at 10:07AM. My problem, at the moment, is there is hardly anyone on the music scene that excites me enough to do any of this.

83 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

We have no problem getting tickets — we have a problem getting good tickets at a good price.

Linda Casey, Bayside, N.Y.

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "With many of the show's dates already sold out, BuySellTix.com is your best source for securing tickets to one of this year's biggest events. Do not worry if you couldn't get tickets to the show nearest you when tickets went on sale. BuySellTix.com still has tickets to the hottest shows in the biggest cities, but we won't for long."

Being a rock star, once a very lucrative profession, might not be for much longer. Not only are today’s music fans unwilling to buy recorded music, they’re pretty much unwilling to pay for live music, too. Ozzfest 2007, once a blockbuster music event, is giving tickets away. The music model is changing. I think bands and musicians will eventually have to start marketing their live and recorded music directly to fans. Some have been doing this for some time now but it has been, with some exceptions, a mostly supplemental effort. I think those efforts will soon become their primary means of revenue. The recording industry, the promoters, and outlets like Ticketmaster will object but those leeches are obsolete in the digital age. Music fans want to bypass them because there really is no need for them any more and as I said earlier, they are unwilling to pay for music these days, particularly perceived overpriced music, and said leeches don’t do anything the artists and their audiences can’t do for themselves.

Quote of the Day

I am a lonely soul.

Brad Delp, Boston

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Winter will be over when it's over. Lighten the hell up, buddy."

Blue Man Group is coming to New Orleans in a few weeks. There have been ads all over the TV for this show. Blue Man Group is a lot of fun in short doses. I loved their Intel commercials. Those were mostly 30-second and 60-second spots. When I watched them on a DirecTV freeview, which was an excerpt of one of their concerts, I was bored after just a few minutes. Theatrics will only move me so far. The music has to be there. I just don't think much of their music. Tickets run $50-$75 each. That's the going rate for mid-sized rock concerts today. In the days before expensive theatrics, most of the $2-$3 and $5-$6 shows I saw at The Warehouse in New Orleans back in the 70s were better than anything today's concert goers are seeing. That's too bad. If you never saw ZZ Top, Rush, or Foghat at the top of their game in a hot and sweaty dump like The Warehouse, you just don't know what Rock and Roll is about. :)

Quote of the Day

He was cremated, and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn’t have cared. It went down pretty well, and I’m still alive.

Keith Richards, Rolling Stones

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "There are people who really know how to push the boundaries of the photoshop and produce astonishing pieces of work….."

Amazing links. -Rob

Took the day off to SLAW with the wife. I was lucky enough to hear about 75 different versions of Silver Bells and I think even more versions of Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow. E-N-O-U-G-H. Traditional Christmas music wears on me after the third or eighteenth listen. When I got home, I put in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra DVD. I'm not nearly tired of that yet. Their rendition of Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 is just flat out awesome. The accompanying video on the DVD is great, too. I have the pictured CD/DVD set and I don't think I'm going to allow any other "seasonal" music to be played in my presence at CrabAppleLane. If Patsy wants to hear some of that bland, traditional, overplayed stuff, she can go to the nearest department store, grocery store, hardware store, or gas station ... if that's OK with her.

Congratulations to Dr Norman Borlaug. A more deserving recipient doesn’t exist.

Quote of the Day

Whenever somebody used the tub I had to drain it and dry it out so I could sleep.

Adopted Son of Michael and Sharen Gravelle

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "my moos are here"

I’m absolutely certain that this meme exercise will convince me only that I need to get out more ... or at least rip more music to my PC. I plunge ahead only a week after I saw it at Cullen’s because, well, I procrastinate. I don’t normally like memes and I hate, hate, hate being tagged but I’ll occasionally do a voluntary one if it looks like fun. This one fits the bill.

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend your cool... and alot of the songs fit with the setting.

Opening Credits: Moody Blues - I Know You’re Out There Somewhere
Waking Up: Dire Straits - The Bug
First Day At School: Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Not Fragile
Falling In Love: Gerry Rafferty - Mattie’s Rag
Fight Song: Black Sabbath - Tomorrow’s Dream
Breaking Up: Deep Purple - Knocking At Your Back Door
Prom: Alison Krauss & Union Station - Faraway Land
Life: Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Mental Breakdown: Montrose - Bad Motor Scooter
Driving: Scorpions - Robot Man
Flashback: Jackson Browne - The Load-Out
Getting back together: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - House at Pooh Corner
Wedding: Mark Knopfler - Old Pigweed
Final Battle: Dire Straits - Telegraph Road
Death Scene: Elton John - Your Song
Funeral Song: Queen - Who Wants to Live Forever
End Credits: Dire Straits - Southbound Again

This worked out OK, even somewhat accurate. For Waking Up, the lyrics go, “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug”. Yep, that’s me waking up. I can be a morning person or a night owl. How I wake up mostly but not always depends on the day before. And the Funeral Song came out all on its own, I swear. After I finished pressing next and started working on this entry, five consecutive Dire Straits - Mark Knopfler songs came up. That was my main fear going into this thing.

Quote of the Day

Time has come to start the show
It's boogie time for everyone
Check guitars before you go
Close enough for rock n roll

Nazareth, Telegram

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "We have finally found the stupidest people in America. They are all contestants on THE RICH LIST, the newest and easiest game show on television UNLESS the players are dumber than a tree stump and these contestants would need tutoring to reach that level."

Patsy and I were waiting at my sister’s house Sunday. Too late for one event and too early for the next. There’s a Catholic church and school a few blocks away and they’re having a fair of some sort with rides. Rock music is blaring and we can hear it loud and clear from where we are. Church bells go off. Must be noon. Patsy looks at her watch and it is noon. A few minutes later, they go off again. I wondered what was going on and then I heard the unmistakable guitar intro to AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells. This was quite surprising to me. I went to Catholic schools for 13 years from kindergarten through high school and the word Hell was not used very often. On reflection, I don’t think the powers that be from my days in Catholic schools were wild about loud rock music, either.

Patsy: “Why do you think they’re ringing the bells again?”
Me: “It’s not the bells. They’re playing a song.”
Patsy: “The bells are moving.”

She can see them in her rear view mirror. I listen again. Sure enough, someone is ringing the church bells in unison with the song. I think it’s quite possible that now I’ve heard everything.

Just a FYI: Another song from that CD, You Shook Me All Night Long, is our song. It’s not necessarily our favorite although we both like it. It’s just that when Patsy and I were dating, that was the song that was on whenever we turned on the radio. It was inescapable. After about the 15th time this happened, I said they’re playing our song. I think we both laughed and that was that.

Quote of the Day

I'm rolling thunder
Pouring rain
I'm coming on like a hurricane
My lightning's flashing
Across the sky
You're only young but you're gonna die

AC/DC, Hell’s Bells

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "NBC seems to be getting a bit panicky about this show, and the mainstream press (including USA Today) has published complaints about the series thus far."