I have always loved guitar music. Once upon a time I played pretty regularly, though never well. Now the guitar sits in its dust covered case except for those rare occasions when I bring it out for the kids and try to remember enough chords to muddle through "Puff the Magic Dragon."
Of course now that my kids are more into "I Love Rock & Roll" the challenge is harder.
Anyway.
If you had asked me at 19 what I wanted to be, I would have said a lead guitarist in a rock and roll band.
Speaking of which -- does anyone at 19 want to be a used car salesman? Or a podiatrist? What about an undertaker? Don't you wonder how some jobs ever get filled?
Hey! Get this blog back on track before they fall asleep!
And speaking of Sarah Palin, why would I want someone "just like me" in the White House? I mean, I think I'm a pretty smart guy but I hope that whoever is sitting across the table from Putin next year is a whole lot smarter and more experienced than me or six pack Joe next door.
(DISCLAIMER: my next door neighbor is not actually named Joe.)
Isn't this supposed to be a music blog?!?
Right.
Here are some of my favorite guitarists. I'm not saying they are the best because who wants to get into that argument? I'm just saying they are people who I like to listen to.
Pick it indeed.
Santana - Black Magic Woman
I love the clean sound of Santana's playing.
BB King / Gary Moore - The Thrill is Gone
B.B. is the master, of course, but Gary can play some too.
Stevie Ray Vaughn ~ pride and joy
Another great who died too young.
Buddy Guy - Sweet Home Chicago
A harder edge than B.B., and a master in his own right.
Andrés Segovia plays Bach
Great guitar playing knows no musical boundaries.
Chet Atkins & Doc Watson
Two fine country pickers.
Wes Montgomery - 'Round Midnight
For those mellow evenings.
Paco De Lucia , John McLaughlin , Al Di Meola
3 great guitarists for the price of one!
Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
Anyone who has been paying attention probably guessed that Jimi would be on this list.
I know I left out a lot of great guitarists -- feel free to point that out.
"We are such spendthrifts with our lives," Mr. Newman once told a reporter. "The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I'm not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out."
Currently
watching
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The Hustler Release date: 2002-06-04
I have posted a lot of music blogs during my 2 years here, a lot of it on Friday nights. I started out doing anti-war songs, then branched out into other music. There have been country themes (Italy & Ireland come to mind), 60's music to relive my youth, jazz, blues, rock and even some opera.
Sometimes I have posted newer artists that some readers were not familiar with. What follows are some of the videos that drew the most favorable reaction from those who were not familiar with the artist. Let me know if you still like them.
And if you remember others you first saw here, feel free to remind me.
Rodrigo y Gabriela ~ Tamacun
The Fratellis - Flathead
Ray Lamontagne ~ Trouble
Lily Allen - Smile
Kurt Elling ~ "Nature Boy"
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings ~ "100 Days, 100 Nights"
Feds seize Washington Mutual which, in addition to being the largest savings & loan in the country, has hundreds of employees in the office building where I work. (HINT: do not say "have a nice day" to random people on the elevator if you want your throat in tact.)
Bush & company prepare to give $700 billion to save their friends from a life of shopping at Target.
Someone who's foreign policy experience is based on the view across the Bering Straight may be vice president.
For some reason I am reminded of:
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, Man had always assumed that he was the most intelligent species occupying the planet, instead of the *third* most intelligent. The second most intelligent were of course dolphins who had long known of the impending destruction of earth. They had on many occasions tried to alert mankind but their warnings were mistakenly interpreted as amusing attempts to punch footballs or whistle for titbits. The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a suprisingly sophisticated attempt at doing a double backflip through a hoop while whistling the star-spangled banner but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish."
AND THIS:
Trillian: You idiot! You signed the order to destroy Earth!
Zaphod: I did?
Trillian: Love and kisses Zaphod? You didn't even read it, did you?
Zaphod: Well, I'm president, I don't have a lot of time for reading.
Trillian: My whole planet destroyed because you thought someone wanted your autograph!
Jack sat behind the counter of his father's pub, the Pig and Whistle, looking at the room full of people. One group caught his eye and Jack leaned over to talk to the bartender, Pegleg Mike.
"Mike – that group in the corner, be the pirates do you think?"
Mike knew a thing or two about pirates having once sailed the seven seas with the dreaded Capt. Skunkbeard.!
"Aye young Jack. Pirates they be. And not just any pirates. That be one of the theivenest, backstabbingest, blackest hearted bunch that ever hoisted the Jolly Roger. And every last one of them as evil as Him who fell from Heaven. Mark my words Jack – you don't want to cross that bunch. If they don't kill ya they'll lock you away in a dungeon never to see the light of day. And torture? Why they take great pleasure in the nastier arts. No, to die tis a mercy with that crowd."
Jack gulped and stared for a moment before fear forced him to look away.
"What are they doing here Mike?"
"Well Jackie that's hard to say. Their captain is supposed to be stepping down and some say he be tryin' to figure a way to stay. Others say he just be making sure he gets his share of the loot."
"Is the captain the one with the white hair then?"
"Him? NO! Though he wants to be the next captain and will do or say anything to get control."
"But he looks too old to be taking over a ship."
"There be many a man that agrees with you young Jack. Still, the white haired one wants his turn."
"What about the woman Mike? Who is she?"
"Many a man has asked that question young Jack. Truth be told she be a scoundrel just like the rest of 'em. The white haired one has picked her as his first mate though she's sailed nothing but a dinghy before."
"Which one is the captain now Mike?
"See the one leanin' against the wall? That be the captain. And a bigger scoundrel there's never been!"
"That one? But, he looks dumber than Frogleg Freddie did after the mule kicked him."
"Don't let looks fool you young Jack. That scoundrel has been plunderin' and pillagin' for nigh on to 8 years now. Aye, he's a bad one alright."
"Do they have treasure Mike?
"Treasure? Aye Jack they've plundered treasure aplenty. And not just gold either. No, they've plundered folks of a more valuable treasure than gold young Jack. They've stolen their peace of mind. Aye – with their spies everywhere, and their plunderin' friends tossin' people into the streets, people are hurtin' cuz of them Jack.Hurtin' bad."
"That's not right Mike. Something must be done."
"Right? No Jack, it ain't right. But the damage be done and all we can hope is that when the captain walks away, the crew disappears. It ain't much Jack, but it be all we got."
"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
As shameless politicians of both parties spend the day pandering to voters with cries of "remember 9-11," I hope we will find time to remember the one true, apolitical lesson from that day: that ordinary people can come together and perform heroic feats in the face of unimaginable tragedy. The felling of the towers may have brought out the worst in our government, but it also brought out the best in the people.
Music is a very important part of my life. I almost always have the radio or a CD playing. One of the powerful things about music is its ability to stimulate memories. There are some songs that when I hear them, take me to a specific time and place, complete with sounds and smells. One of the odd things about this phenomena is that the memories stirred are not necessarily important memories. They just happen to be ones stored with a particular soundtrack.These are a few of the songs and the random things that come to mind when I hear them.
Angie ~ The Rolling Stones
1973, working at the post office in my hometown. One of my co-workers was a guy named Mendoza (for some reason we all called each other by our last names). Once every couple of weeks Mendoza and I would go to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant named Rudy's Tacos. Like many places in the 70's, Rudy's had a jukebox. Mendoza and I would go to Rudy's, order three beef tacos (this was about 2 years before I stopped eating beef, but that's another story) and head over to the jukebox. And the first song I would play, every time (I am NOT suffering from OCD!) was Angie. (Usually followed by Give it to Me by the J. Geils Band,) So for me, when I hear Angie, I can smell and almost taste greasy tacos. Yummy.
War Pigs ~ Black Sabbath
Oddly enough, this song brings back memories of playing softball with my church softball team in the early 70's. My friend Jonathan introduced me to the music of Black Sabbath. (As well as to other songs that are forever associated with him in my mind – including CCR's "Who'll Stop the Rain.") I first heard "War Pigs" at Jonathan's house which, considering his father was a retired General, seemed an appropriate place. Jonathan and I played on the St. John's Methodist Church softball team for a couple of years. As one of the best athletes on the team, Jon often played centerfield. As one of the worst, I often played right field. And in the summer of 1971 as we stood in the field on River Road in the East Village, we would sing "War Pigs" in between fly balls.
Your Song ~ Elton John
I'm sure everybody who was the right age in 1970 has memories of this song. First loves demand theme songs, do they not? I learned to play, although poorly, a guitar version of this song. I used to sit with my first real girlfriend, Suzy, and sing this to her. And while I did this in a lot of different places, the image that comes to mind now is of us in the small chapel at St. John's. Ah simpler times.
Don't it make my brown eyes blue ~ Crystal Gayle
To be honest I never liked this song. But whenever I hear it it brings back memories of a night in a bar in Federal Way, Washington in 1978. I was working at a bulk mail center at the time with a crew of misfits that you might find in a bad Kevin Smith movie. One night our friend Big Gene (so called both because of his size and of his prominence in the union) drug a bunch of us over to the bar to commiserate with him over his recent divorce. Philly John, Stoner Bob, Sleepy and I went with him to play darts and pool and drink happy hour beer. It was pouring down rain and we got soaked just running from the cars to the bar.
Big Gene commandeered the juke box, poured in a bunch of quarters, and played "Don't it Make Your Brown Eyes Blue" over and over again. And again. People fled the bar in droves after the first hour. Now when I hear the song an image comes unbidden of me standing in wet clothes in a smoke filled bar playing pool with Big Gene.
Wonderful World & Red River Valley
These are my children's favorite bed time songs. Almost every night for a couple of years now my son has asked for "the tree song," and for the past few months my daughter has asked for her "forever" song. So those two songs are now forever associated with sitting on the side of the bed, rubbing children's backs, and singing a cappella as they go to sleep.
There you have some of the songs that trigger specific mental images for me.
What are some songs that bring up specific memories for you, however weird or poignant those memories might be?
Currently
listening
:
Memories
By
Barbra Streisand
Release date: 1990-10-25
I know what you're thinking. Where has the Judge been and why hasn't he been posting his really boring insightful blogs? Why hasn't he been commenting on mine? (the bum!)
Oh sure -- you probably think I've been wrapped up in life what with my kids starting kindergarten this week and all.
But the truth is I've been addicted to movies lately. Not just any movies -- only the ones I can get at the library a block away because, why pay for them?
And since I am sure you are all incredibly interested in this, here are a few I've watched lately. Note that although I like all of these to one degree or another, this is not a list of my "favorite" movies. They are just the movies I like that have been available at the library.
There are a lot of people out there doing great things with their lives every day. The work without glory or acclaim, and pass on without the fanfare they often deserve. This is one such person that I had the honor of working with, albeit remotely.
Pamela W. McKee, 55, labor lawyer
By Gayle Ronan Sims
Inquirer Staff Writer
Pamela W. McKee, 55, a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Labor in Philadelphia and Los Angeles who surrounded herself with lifelong friendships, died Friday of ovarian cancer in Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, Calif. Ms. McKee lived in Philadelphia before moving to La Cañada, Calif., in 2001.
Ms. McKee became an associate regional solicitor for the Department of Labor in Philadelphia in 1991. She enforced laws governing minimum wage, overtime, workplace safety, and the security of employee pensions and retirement savings. Starting in 2001, she ran the agency's legal office in Los Angeles.
Born in 1953 in New York City, the daughter of television actress and dancer Joan Holloway, Ms. McKee graduated from the elite girls Nightingale-Bamford School in Manhattan. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1975 – the school's first class to include women.
Inspired by her stepfather, who was a lawyer, Ms. McKee earned a law degree in 1979 from the University of Colorado in Boulder before practicing law in Denver for several years.
In 1982, Ms. McKee moved to Philadelphia, where she put her strong communication and analytical skills to work as a pro se law clerk for the U.S. District Court, advising judges on how to rule in lawsuits filed by people serving as their own attorneys. Such plaintiffs are often prisoners protesting the validity of guilty verdicts and prison conditions. Ms. McKee became an expert in that area of law.
She married Marc Duvoisin, a former reporter and editor at The Inquirer, in 1983. When he became a foreign correspondent for the paper in 1986, the couple moved to Egypt. Ms. McKee had a part-time legal practice assisting American companies with interests in the Middle East. She also was a volunteer for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, interviewing political detainees and monitoring their treatment.
Ms. McKee returned to Philadelphia in 1990 and became a staff lawyer with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, again specializing in pro se petitions. In 1991, she went to work for the U.S. Labor Department Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia. She and her husband lived at various times in South Philadelphia, Center City, West Philadelphia and Ardmore. In 1992 their son, Alexander, was born. He is now 16.
"Pam had great energy. When you became her friend, you were a part of the circle of her life. She had friends dating back to when she was 2 years old," Duvoisin said. "She kept a file by month of friends' birthdays. Over the years, this grew to 30 or 40 people a month. She sent cards, presents, or at least a phone call on each friend's birthday."
In 2001, Ms. McKee and her family moved to La Cañada, Calif., where she became associate regional solicitor for the Labor Department in Los Angeles.
In addition to her husband and son, Ms. McKee is survived by her mother, Joan Holloway Russell; her stepfather, Richard L. Russell; a sister; and two brothers
