BEING ENTERTAINED BY THE WORLD...
...this is something I could get used to...
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I watch my share of Television, which is probably much too much. Mostly I view crime-oriented shows in syndication. I've probably seen the entire "CSI: Miami" series 3 or 4 times during the last couple of years. Before that, I'd seen every "NYPD Blue" complete series probably a half-dozen times. Elsewhere, my TV set is often configured to display "Forensic Files" on Tru-TV or "Criminal Minds" on A&E, which is a GRRREAT show. I read in the paper today that the CBS series, "NUMB3RS" may soon be syndicated, which would be great. Rob Morrow (Dr. Fleischman in the long-lamented "Northern Exposure" series of long ago) stars; the show has an interesting premise, in that Crime is based on certain numerics, and that's interesting, in much the same way 'profiling' is an intriguing element of "Criminal Minds". Maybe one day we'll see a show titled "Criminal Numb3rs"? Why do I watch so much of this stuff? I do know I can't watch sitcoms anymore. They're all so shallow these days.
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However, all that's taken a back seat lately to this year's Olympic Games in Vancouver. And it's had an effect on me that's disquieting: I think I (almost) understand Hockey (a big step for me), and I found myself being absorbed by figure skating, which is really a stretch. But there's so much that's been going on: Bobsledding, skiing ,snowboarding, speed-skating (which I really enjoyed) and on and on. I did miss the Curling events, so that'll remain a great mystery to me until the next Winter Olympiad. But just now, I'm totally confused by an Olympic competition which just aired, featuring two teams of three skaters each skating in opposite directions (thankfully, on different tracks; imagine the collisions otherwise...). Overall, though, I've really enjoyed watching the Olympics, putting in at least 3 hours a night of watching everything; I'm probably gonna be going thru Olympic withdrawals symptoms once they're over. What am I gonna do? Let's just have the Olympics Every Day; that would be my solution. I feel like I've been entertained by The Entire World these last couple of weeks. It's been fun.
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When I've been bogged down by Olympic events I didn't understand, there was always Hockey on CNBC, so I was able to use that as a Default Channel if I was, say, getting lost in Too Much figure skating or left at the wayside by NBC's often-annoying Sports Portrayals of Olympic Athletes. One night I had to choose between Hockey on MSNBC and Figure Skating on NBC. Tough call; Hockey won out. That's kinda like having to choose between Martha Stewart and Soccer. Finally, Bob Costas' performance as an Olympic Program Host was rather off-putting somehow. It just seems like he wasn't into the Olympics; it was as if all he could do was to provide a sort-of 'link' between events. And Chris Collingwood, the football guy, doing Olympic Vignettes? Huh? WHAT???? Keep Chris on the NFL-type shows where he belongs, and for heavens' sake, move Bob Costas over to Baseball telecasts. From what I've read, baseball is his first (sports) love. Finally, you know a big event is Really Big when Google does something like this:...cool, huh?
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So, ending the Olympics this evening is the largely pomp-and-circumstance closing ceremony, in which Canada seemed to throw down the gauntlet to Russia, host of the next Winter Olympiad. The speaker said something about every young person all over the world having the right to compete. An important concept, especially since the Olympics is heading for the land that used to be behind the Iron Curtain, and in some ways, still might be. Remember when the Olympics were boycotted for political reasons a couple of decades ago? That was an absolute shame. Athletes caught in the government's firm grasp. That should Never Happen Again. And, how about this:, NEIL YOUNG singing "Long May You Run", a song he wrote back in the '70s. I'm still a bit leery at the prospects of the next Winter Olympiad being held there; one can only hope things turn out for the best. Long May You Run, Indeed. The ceremony isn't over yet, but for me, it is. How can anyone top Neil Young? It can't be done. Time to turn off the TV now.
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So what else is going on these days, now that the Olympics are over? Well, layoffs are gonna be happening soon, if not already, at the Oregonian, Oregon's largest newspaper, and at the Eugene Register-Guard, a really good newspaper that I read quite a lot. There's the big whirligig concerning Toy-ota cars, many of which have been re-called due to their propensity of accelerating without the foot being on the pedal. Wheee! Just think of it! Cars that can drive themselves! Now we're making progress, right? Ulp. And now the company's saying that "our newly installed improvements still have a good possibility of malfunctioning", so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Me, I drive a Dodge Intrepid. It did behave erratically a few years back; a sending unit deep in the bowels of the car malfunctioned, causing it to heave and slow down, jumping from one gear to the other at random; it felt like I shoulda been sitting on a bronco (no, not 'Ford' Bronco) instead of behind a wheel...whoa, boy. So I got that fixed. The Labor Bill for ripping the car apart, pulling out old sending unit, putting in new sending unit, and then putting car back together was immense. Ack.
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Finally, here's something that's not news at all...
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...it's been raining a lot on the Oregon Coast this winter.

OLYMPIC BLOG-POSTING:
...an event whose time has come!!!
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There would be several different events comprising the Olympic Blog-Posting event. First, there would be the Typing Speed Trials. I do 75 words a minute. There are those who are faster; a lady told me years ago she could do 120. That's virtually superhuman. But I wouldn't be out of the competition just yet...Next up, there would be a grammar competition, with too many semicolons and quotations detracting from the overall score. I don't use semicolons a lot; sometimes they help me to organize thoughts; but I would have to exercise caution. Too many punctuational marks are overused; phraseology, in--and of--itself...needs to become more streamlined. So all I can say to that is "I'll Try". Then, there would be another competition for continuity of thought. No rambling, no hackneyed usage of cliches, and graceful transitions of logic from one sub-topic to the next. I think Richard Nixon would've made a great blogger. He was always trying to make One Thing Perfectly Clear. Finally, in the Olympic originality competition, each entrant would have to be careful not to mix metaphors; that "can't" happen; if it did, The Olympic Blogger would find A Stitch in time would put he/she on a slippery slope, spoiling the stew. And we just can't have that. Uh-oh; was that last thing a sentence fragment? In competition I would be docked for that too, as well. Er?
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SOMETHING ELSE BESIDES THE OLYMPICS: I don't know if this happens a lot to everyone else, but I've always wondered: If I go into a store to get a Pepsi or whatever, and then get back in my car, I'll work all the mirrors so I can see what's around me, to the left, to the right, and in back of me. Nothing. Coast clear. So I'll put the jalopy into reverse, and begin to back up, and THAT'S when people decide to swerve into the parking lot, barely missing me, and THAT'S when pedestrians come from out of nowhere to traipse in back of my car. Honest to God, I could be out in the middle of the Sahara Desert with no one around me for thousands of square miles, and if I put the car into reverse out there, I'm sure a motorist or pedestrian or perhaps someone riding a Camel would Try To Get Me To Hit Them. Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says, "Hit me, I need the Money"? Is there an economic slant to all this? Maybe everyone's on a mission to test out My Insurance and reap the benefits of a collision? Close-calls when I'm backing up happen to me Several Times A Week. Is it just me? On another note, I've lived in Coos Bay for over 3 years now, and their numerous one-way streets Still Confuse Me. It's easy for me to get Lost In This Small Town. So you don't need to tell me to Get Lost. I already AM.
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NOW, BACK TO THE OLYMPICS: Am I burned out from Too Much Olympics Yet? Judge for yourself: I've long said that I Will Never Watch Soccer, no matter how much everyone tries to jam the sport down my throat. Too many players running pell-mell around the field in every direction, not being able to use their hands which only complicates the game. A typical team might score 1 or 2 goals in a three hour period, and yawn...but not wanting to have a closed mind, I did watch Olympic Hockey the other day. Hockey features Too Many Players skating pell-mell around the rink in every direction, with the slippery-ness of the ice replacing Soccer's "no-hands" awkwardness, and yawn...so, I guess I can't watch Hockey either. Later on, I saw a skating event which totally confused me. There were close to 20 or 30 skaters from several teams on the ice, and as a player exited the rink for the space in the center, another skater would zip out and replace him. Sometimes, a skater from a certain team would venture out onto the track, and grab the rear-end of one of his team-mates, pushing him forward. Hopefully the lead skater has no Unwanted Gas And Bloating (Break out the Beano). This Important Olympic Update: The U.S. beat Canada in Hockey. Yaay. Whoopee. I'll try to curb my enthusiasm. Right now, my eyes are glazing over as I try to make sense of Olympic Ice Dancing. That said, my heart goes out to the young Canadian lady ice-dancing right now. Her Mom died of a heart attack yesterday. She'd come to Vancouver to see her daughter compete. That is So Sad.
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I have an idea formaking the Olympics more relevant to all of us who used to be kids, and I think it would be great fun to watch. Ready? How about Olympic Snowball-Fighting? I could really get into that! And perhaps, an Olympic Snowman-building event...
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THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH...

...The 2010 Winter Olympics, of course...

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Lindsay Vonn is My Hero. She, in spite of not being fully recovered from a recent skiing accident, won the Women's Downhill event. And when she found out she'd won, she finally got to show the emotion she'd kept bottled up inside in the days leading up to her victory. She found her skiing coach, and cried, and cried, and cried. She'd been under all sorts of terrible pressure, and just look what she did. She Won. Truly Amazing. I was overcome with emotion watching her. Of course, every athlete there has different ways of Letting It Out, but she laid her soul bare for all to see. How captivating that was. It was a private moment that became a public moment due to all the microphones and cameras near her; part of me was thinking, "how obtrusive" and part of me thought, "this is really intense, isn't it?"

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Lindsay, thank you for sharing your emotions with us all. The entire world, in its quest to become Politically Correct, just seems kinda shallow. Maintain your cool. Don't let 'em see you sweat. Don't indulge in anything that even Looks like it could be offensive somewhere on down the line. It was refreshing and cathartic somehow for me to witness this little gal, who held nothing, absolutely nothing back during her race and at the finish line. I've watched the speed skaters, the choreographed skating events, the luge races, the snowboard events (the half-pipe and downhill racing), everything except Curling. Where is the Curling? Was it, or will it be as exciting as the rest of this Olympiad? And what about Shaun White on that Snowboard? Truly, truly remarkable. The kid is crazy like a gnarly fox, but most of all, he is goooood. What he did in the half-pipe was as close to actually flying as a human can get without airplane wings. Just great stuff, Shaun.

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Back when I used to run, I knew that I had the heart of an Olympian trapped inside the body of a couch potato. I could not run fast. Running was all I could do; I was too uncoordinated for organized sports. My best-ever time for a mile was 6:58. My biggest surprise was a time of 1:49:28 for a half-marathon in 1993. That was, pound for pound, the best race I ever ran. I improved by 9 minutes from the year before. It felt like I'd literally zoomed across the finish line. As I slowed down, I found it difficult to breathe; I actually had to run another quarter-mile before stopping. I later read that excessive adrenalin can constrict breathing, so I guess I had to burn some of that off.

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The 1994 Portland Marathon was another such experience. At the 7am race start, it was already 70 degrees, so I knew we were in for a hot one. I held up pretty well until about the 17-mile mark; dehydration set in, and my body quit running; it just quit...well, thinking about that Finisher's Medal awaiting me, I alternated walking with a slow jog; it was probably 95 degrees by then (approximately 11:30am), but as I neared the finish line, something happened. All of a sudden, vroom, vroom, zoom...I blasted the last couple of miles and finished in a total sprint, and laid down a marathon personal best of 4:13:29. As I crossed the finish line, a Marathon Volunteer hung the medal around my neck and put one of those space-blankets around me and walked me into the finisher's area. My sight totally freaked out for a brief instant; all I could see were a big yellow dots in a black background. After about 30 seconds, my vision returned and I felt all warm inside; proud of what I'd done. I couldn't shed tears; I was so dehydrated at the finish.

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I still have all 11 of my Marathon Finisher medals. That's a part of my life that's over now, but I not only remember, I Fondly Remember. I laid it all out that day; gave all I had. So I think I understand, at least a bit, what these Olympic Athletes go through. They're all amazing to watch. I guess we all have roles in our lives, and evidently as the years pass, those roles change. But these Olympic events touched a place deep within where I remember what it was like to compete. Great fun, great thrills, and a lot of pain, too. Would I want to go thru that again? In a heartbeat. That's probably the attitude that keeps these Olympians coming back for more. It's in their blood. It's something they need to do. I Really Do Understand That.

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Lindsey Vonn competed again today; this time around it was the Womens' slalom. She crashed. That shows how fickle competition is, but that's how life is in general. A slip-up here, a misstep there, sets the stage for how things turn out. I'll just hope I'm not awarded a Finisher's Medal for "life" anytime soon. "Runner's World" magazine was at the Portland Marathon in 1994; from an overhead walkway, the photographer snapped a picture of us runners trudging along; I was in that picture. That's my 15 minutes of fame, I guess.

GETTING THE KNACK...
...they weren't highly regarded, but they had that Big Hit...
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Dadda-DUM-Da-Dadda-Dadda-DUM-Da...in the late '70's, you could hear that riff everywhere. Yep, you guessed it; "My Sharona" by The Knack. Before proceeding, I should mention that I've long championed the cause of respectability-oriented music; I love the classic bands like 'Yes', 'Kansas', 'Deep Purple' and 'Pink Floyd', to name a few. They were incredibly musical. But there's always been a place in my heart for trashy bands that could rock...'Bachman-Turner Overdrive', 'Foghat', 'Kiss' and 'Aerosmith' aren't the most cerebral bands, but in their day they were sure a lot of fun to listen to. (And still are.) The Knack definitely were UNcerebral, and I'm sure a lot of self-respecting record collectors wouldn't admit liking them, let alone actually Buying the group's music, but chances are, at least some of them had a copy of "Get The Knack" hidden away in a closet somewhere, because it rocks All The Way Through. I've heard Big, Dumb and Stupid rock and roll referred to as "butt-rock", and yeah, The Knack would probably fit into that category. I mean, don't tell everyone that I like this music; I've got a reputation to uphold...
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The Knack sang about Teenage Lust and emotional angst; indeed a line from "My Sharona" (that big Knack hit) reads, "I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind"; not exactly grammy-award-winning material, and when I first heard "My Sharona" and heard that line, the conservative, rigidly inflexible side of me thot, "That line is Pure CRAP." But the rock and roller in me absolutely loved the way the song sounded; it rocks hard, and contains some absolutely great guitar-work in the edited single version, plus a longer guitar solo on the unedited album version. Love 'em or hate 'em, The Knack could rock out, and the kids loved 'em. Heck, I was 24 when that song came out, and I thought it was GREAT. A true #1 hit all the way. Critic Robert Christgau has said that #1 singles are laws unto themselves; and "My Sharona" rocks so hard, even at the very start of the song, that it just couldn't be ignored.
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The Knack were probably their Own Worst Enemies, though. And maybe some of it was the fault of management or, perhaps, the Record Company. Pictured here is that first big Knack album, and it's immediately apparent that the cover resembles that other album we all know and love, "Meet The Beatles". The Knack recorded for Capitol Records, as did The Beatles, whose albums were released on Capitol. "Get The Knack" was issued on Capitol's black-and-rainbow label, a design that was retired in 1970, but brought back for The Knack nine years later.
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Also pictured here is the back cover of 'Get The Knack' which looks suspiciously like the Beatles on the set of the film "A Hard Day's Night". Were The Knack daring to compare themselves to The Beatles? This was another reason the Critics detested The Knack. In Spite of all this (or because of it), the record sold in the Millions. Not bad for an album that took only a couple of weeks to make. This record sounds GREAT all the way through. The drum sound here is sweeping and emphatic, the guitars ring out clear as a bell, and there's an Energy on this album that further propels each song. Okay, so the lyrics aren't really all that great, but this album is a Genuine Guilty Pleasure, and I confess...a millisecond after hearing "My Sharona" on the radio, I was Instantly Hooked.
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Ah, but the good times for The Knack were not destined to endure. The group was advised by its management Not to give interviews, which further alienated the Press. "Just who do these guys think they are?" a lot of people on the music scene wondered. Two more albums followed "Get The Knack", but the band was never again as popular. But that first album...it's definitely major-league music from a minor-league band. Flash-forward to today; Doug Fieger (FY-ger), the group's leader and main songwriter (second from left on the album cover), passed away today after a 6-year battle with Cancer. But there was a time when his group was first and foremost in the minds of Music Listeners. Famous and Notorious. I'll bet the Rolling Stones were just a little bit jealous...
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The disco era ground to a halt in the late '70s and everyone got sick and tired of it; The Knack came along at just the right time. Nothing like having good timing. And a killer riff: Dadda-DUM-Da-Dadda-Dadda-DUM-da...

OLYMPIC SATURATION...

...you'd better used to it, cos it's here!

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It's interesting watching athletes from around the world do the things they're gonna be doing this week in Vancouver, B.C. And already there's been tragedy, a major technical malfunction and weather that threatens to turn everything sopping wet. On the luge course, one competitor lost control of his sled, careening off the course, and smashed into a big metal support beam located maybe a couple of feet from the track on that fatal "curve 16". He perished needlessly. Is it not wise to put anything you can crash into a couple feet away from a dangerous curve while zipping along at more than 90 miles an hour? Maybe I sound like a wacko here, but hear me out...in TV footage shown today, workers were shown fastening shock-absorbing material onto the support beams, including the one that poor unfortunate Mr. Luger crashed into.

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A lot of good that's gonna do; those post cushions are only about as thick as one of those orange life-preserver vests. I guarantee that if a luger-athlete crashes into a cushioned post at 90mph, unfortunate results will still occur. Hindsight is supposed to be 20/20, but for his family, it's much too little and waaay too late. Sometimes I think those in charge of such big events oftentimes display an alarming lack of judgment and common sense. If there's a big steel support beam near the point where a Luger could conceivably fly off the track, didn't someone, anyone, think, "hmmm, could be bad if someone on a Luge-sled crashed into it..." I see this as nothing short of a Drastic Design flaw, along the lines of the "Challenger" disaster. Hint: Isn't the "Luge" supposed to be an outdoor event? This time around, it's inside. Not good. Hope no one else crashes. UPDATE: The starting lines on this ultra-fast luge track have been moved down to reduce speeds, the track itself has been modified, and higher walls have been put in place, all efforts to make the luge track safer.

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A lot is being made of the relatively mild winter in Vancouver, Washington...evidently this is a year in which "El Nino" is bringing in warm air and p-l-e-n-t-y of rain. The precip could drastically affect the results of Olympic Competition, and it would be really ironic if Vancouver actually has to import snow from somewhere else. I personally Hate Snow, and there's no way I'd want a snow-trucking firm to unceremoniously dump a pile of snow on my front lawn. But this is a Winter Olympics, and since the presence of Snow is conducive to said Event, then there should be snow where the Olympics are being held. Hello?!? Vancouver, Canada, is Near Ocean Water. As such, if the Ocean is warm, it'll rain, rain, rain, with the possibility of Really Messing Up The Olympiad. Doesn't anyone think on the lofty International Olympic Committee think ahead about these things?

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It turns out that Washington, D.C., is having the same problem as Vancouver, only in reverse. It's snowed TONS in D.C., and governmental activities are even more sluggish than usual, due to the city's inability to clear the snow off the streets. I propose a solution...let's have all of the politicians set up shop in Vancouver, and relocate the Olympics to our Nation's Capital. I always say, "don't point out a problem without a way to make the situation better." So there ya go. And while yer at it, let's hold the next Winter Olympiad in Siberia. I hear winters are pretty intense there. It'd be great for the athletes, but not for the TV networks, so I guess that wouldn't happen...A Siberian Olympics probably wouldn't be cost-effective. Kinda hard to drive those satellite trucks through Siberian snowstorms...

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Finally, yep, it's been nine days since my last submission. No, I don't have a good excuse. Or even a bad excuse. I should probably fire myself. I guess I'm gonna have to give me a good talking to.

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED...

---a salute to Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens...

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It's been 52 years since a small plane took off to get to the next concert site and in a blaze of snowstorm, gone were Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valenz. Turns out their music is kept alive more than ever by Oldies Radio Stations across the country and I hear their songs virtually every time I switch on the car radio. The Big Bopper probably would've been a one-hit wonder, seeing as how his biggest song, "Chantilly Lace" was a novelty-type-tune, but who knows what Holly and Valens would've done had they decided to take a Bus that ill-fated nite. Buddy Holly and Richie Valens wrote many of their own tunes, and they were good guitarists, too. Holly had already written a whole bunch of songs, and Valens would've churned out a lotta tunes, had Mother Nature not have casted her fickle-finger-of-fate towards them on that blustery February Evening.

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I've collected a lot of music over the years, but frankly, I wasn't even old enough to remember hearing their songs when they first came out. Over the years though, I've backtracked into 50s music, and much of it is a whole lotta fun. Fun, Fun, Fun, in fact. Buddy recorded for the Decca label, which evolved into MCA music, one of the big conglomerates, and as such, his music has continued to be issued and re-issued over the years. My own Holly collection isn't that voluminous, but I have a 'Buddy Holly Greatest Hits', released on Coral (a subsidiary of MCA), and 'Buddy Holly's 20 Golden Greats' LP which was issued in the 1970's. The 'Golden Greats' LP features a few songs which are not on the 'Golden Greats' album, and likewise the 'Golden Greats' LP has 2 or 3 songs not available on the 'Greatest Hits' album. I think a 4-CD retrospective of Holly's music was issued in the '90s, but I've got enough Buddy Holly in ye olde collection to have a pretty good idea what he was all about. My favorite Buddy Holly tunes? "That'll Be The Day", "Rave On, "Well Alright", "Maybe Baby" and "Rainin' In My Heart". Strangely enough, I'm not wild about "Peggy Sue", though. It's an 'okay' tune, tho.

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Richie Valens had very little musical material scattered about in the Musical Marketplace other than "Donna" and "La Bamba", which were issued on the "Del-Fi" label. He wrote both of those songs, and had the winter snows not have fallen on that fateful night, I'm sure he would've turned out a lot more originals. I plead ignorance if there have been any Valens retrospectives issued down through the years; perhaps some Valens Fanatic has assembled a wide assortment of Richie's songs from concerts or unissued takes. I do know a "live appearance" LP was record; "Live At Pacoima High School" (or something that resembles that title. It's a hard LP to find.) I'd enjoy hearing more of Valens' material to get a better idea of what he was all about. I do have another Valens' Del-Fi single, "That's My Little Susie" which is a pleasant upbeat tune. So when Don McLean, who wrote "American Pie" in the early 70s, about "the day the music died", the losses of Holly, Valens and Mr. Bopper just had to be huge; as bad in its own way as John Lennon's death was for me.

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Another 50's rocker, Eddie Cochran, left this planet fairly early; the car he was riding in blew out a tire; his head hit the inside of the car's roof, and he was killed on the spot. Cochran was something of an experimenter; he artificially double-tracked a lot of his tunes and he also wrote many of his own tunes. Cochran had been recording on the Liberty label in the '50s, and Liberty evolved into United Artists records, and several Eddie Cochran albums were released down through the years, and are probably also being issued today, somewhere. All of these guys were ultra-creative, with vivid imaginations and lots of skill, and had they lived, they would almost certainly have had long careers in the business. And as for Mr. Bopper, well, he probably would've been doing oldies-goldies tours promoting his one Hit down thru the years. Hey, it's a fun piece of music. You KNOW what I like!

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You've all probably heard of Pete Best, who was the Beatles' drummer before Ringo came into the group. Pete was probably a very good guy. It is said his drumming just wasn't good enough for what The Beatles wanted, and yes, I believe that's true. I've had a chance to listen to a lot of songs Pete drummed on, and while he could keep the beat, he somehow lacked the punch and power Ringo brought into the group. Also, Pete seemed to never get as crazy and wild as The Other Beatles were, so Pete's sacking was probably due, at least to a part, on personality conflicts. In this picture, from left, is John, George, Paul and Pete, taken c.1961.

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The question I have here is one I've not seen posed: What do you suppose Pete Best felt whenever a new Beatles single came out in the '60s? Did it depress him? Did he have to switch the radio off 'cos he just couldn't take it? Pete continued playing until the late '60s. He and the other members of The Pete Best Combo did record about 25 tracks in the U.S., but it turns out all the record company guy wanted was to cash in on Pete Having Been A Beatle. Ouch. Finally, in 1995, Pete came into a healthy dose of cash. The "Beatles' Anthology Albums" were issued, and lo and behold, the Super-Early tracks Pete recorded with the Beatles are on the "Anthology I" album. It's a thing called 'Royalties'. In a DVD about him, Pete termed it as 'compensation for services rendered.' To this day, none of the Beatles has ever spoken to Pete about the early days. Pete has re-activated his band and he's toured the world. The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth indeed.

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I've been in virtually the same situation. No, I didn't ever play for any famous bands; however, I got into a three-piece rock band because the band's original drummer had to Go To Prison for a while. I played with the group off and on for the next couple of years. One Friday Night, I showed up at The Gig early, and low and behold, my drums had been repositioned on the Dance Floor. Turns out the drummer who'd gone to prison was released, and he was setting up his drums on the stage where mine had been. When were they gonna tell me they didn't want me? So, without a single word, I began taking my drums out to the car, after which I up and drove away. I knew the drummer who replaced me was far superior, however, I'd gotten better over time. Not better enough, I guess...

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Finally, if this posting seems a bit lackluster, it's probably because I am in Day 2 of Having a Bad Cold. My skin literally hurts right now. But I'm in it for the long haul...cough drops, orange juice and mega-doses of Vitamins on top of my sleep medication...hey, look at the bright side...this cold ain't near as bad as the almost-killer-flu that invaded my body a few years ago. 'Scuse me for a minute...hack hack cough sneeze wheeeeze....ack...

THE SOUND OF MUSIC...

...the hills are alive...with the sound of Money...

(A quote from Steve Martin's "Let's Get Small" album)

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First of all, I must admit that Someone Else's blog led me to post this posting. That person reviewed several new CD's, and I blatantly stole his idea. A-ha! Music! THAT'S what I can feed that big, greedy, porky, salivating Blog Monster. And so I have. Burp...Quick! Where's the Beano?

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First up on this fine morning is the latest CD by that un-lovable Beatle, Ringo Starr. I think his best album ever was his 1973 album, "Ringo", the one that features "Oh My My", "Photograph" and his version of "You're Sixteen". But it wasn't just that it had hits on it...it was a genuinely fun album to listen to. He's never come close to equalling that album, although he's tried. He's released umpteen albums since, and a lot of them sank without a trace. In fact, one of his albums, "Old Wave" wasn't even ISSUED in the U.S.A....it got issued in Canada, though. And it's like all the other LP's he's issued, in that He Sings, He Drums, people play and sing with him, his records get released, and then it's "okay, what do we do now?"

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Everyone's teeing off with the news that For The First Time Ever, Ringo PRODUCED an album of his, that it's the first time he's done so, that this is an 'honest' album, how it's a musical turning point for Ringo, and I'm sorry; My Eyes don't see it and My Ears don't hear it. His latest CD is called "Y Not". And I can't really figure out "Y" I bought it, other than the fact that as long as ex-Beatles continue to breathe, I'll buy any music those Living Ex-Beatles issue. The songs are basically paint-by-numbers pop music, and the lyrics contain all kinds of pseudo-philisophically trite phrases we've all heard before. But what really jumped out at me, is that in spite of (or because of?) the fact that Ringo Himself produced this, the Playing just isn't all that good. If someone other than an Ex-Beatle had issued this disc, it would have sunk to the bottom faster than a 200-pound-test-limit line with a brick of concrete fastened to it. Ker-Plunk. Granted, he's closing in on 70 years of age, but I hope that when I'm 70, I can rock harder than Ringo did here. The rhythms, especially on the first few numbers, actually DRAG. And midway through listening to it, I found myself thinking, "this isn't all that good, is it?"

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Finally, the last song on the disc features a Female Lead Vocal on it. I have nothing against Women Who Sing, but Ringo, this is your album; couldn't you have written another formula-song in 10 minutes with one of your band members? A female lead vocal, on this, a Ringo disc. It's a song called "Who's Your Daddy". Original title there, huh? Can I please take my CD out of the player now? Some say, "if you don't have anything good to say about it, don't say it." So what's good about this disc? Well, it's semi-melodic pop n'roll, it's pleasant, inoffensive, and for 70 years of age, he sounds pretty good. Paul McCartney sings harmony on a couple of cuts, and plays bass on one track, but I'm sorry, Paul's assistance doesn't lift those songs into the stratosphere, as I've been led to believe, according to those who've given this Ringo CD such lavish, unadulterated praise. Buy it if you must, as Beatles freaks like I have done, but don't expect to play it a lot; it's like any other slice of calculated Pop, that you'll play it once or twice and then shelve it, never to be heard again. Love ya, Ringo, but sorry, this disc doesn't live up to the hype everyone's pasted on it.

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The second album I'll slice and dice here is by that guy you all know and love, who used to lead Creedence Clearwater Revival, that man of wit, wisdom and song, John Fogerty. After CCR broke up way back in the early 70s, Fogerty released an album of Good Hard country rock in which he played everything on it...all the instruments, as well as singing all of the vocals. That album was my introduction to Country rock, and most everything was very Solid. That album, folks, was called "The Blue Ridge Rangers". For that record, he recorded songs such as "I Ain't Never" (a Mel Tillis tune); "Hearts Of Stone" (a country-pop tune that's been around for ages); "Jambalaya" (yep, the old Hank Williams tune); an eccentric old spiritual ( "Workin' On A Building") and other toe-tappers. Well, he's got a new CD that he hopes Everyone Will Buy titled "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again". Yeah, I know that title is gramatically incorrect; it should be "The Blue Ridge Rangers RIDE again", but then again, what do I know?

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The promo sticker says "John Fogerty pays homage to the American Songbook". Oh yeah? Well guess what songs are on it...Fogerty's version of a JOHN DENVER song, "Back Home Again". A John Denver song is A GREAT AMERICAN SONG? John, what the HELL were you smokin'? Elsewhere, Fogerty does his version of the old Kendall's song, "HEAVEN'S JUST A SIN AWAY". What, is that a classic, too? Aside...that "Sin" song was originally recorded by Papa Kendall and his pretty young Daughter. AND IT'S A CLASSIC? Mr. Fogerty, What the Hell is Going On Here? Elsewhere, Fogerty does a pretty good Everly Brothers' song, "When Will I Be Loved". Yeah, that's a good song. Except that it features BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN on added vocals. IF I WANT TO HEAR SPRINGSTEEN, I'LL PUT ON A SPRINGSTEEN ALBUM! Note: Springsteen is NOT as good as everyone thinks/says he is. His gargley-sounding voice just Irritates me. Another song on this album is Fogerty's reinterpretation of "Garden Party", a number one song for Rick Nelson back in 1970. Is this song a Great American Song? I'm not sure. And guess who's singin' the background: Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit, members of The Eagles. Again, if I want to hear Those Guys, I'll force-feed an Eagles CD to my stereo system. John, in my book, you don't need The Eagles to help you sell CD's. Just a thought.

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Both of these CD's share one quality...and it's a quality possessed by a lot of newer CD's; the digital technology used to put Music on Disc just sounds all splashy and artificial somehow. Some say that CD's generally sound colder than do LP's, and maybe there's some truth to that. Yet, when I purchased George Harrison's "Brainwashed" CD, back in 2002, it sounded every bit as warm as the Vinyl Copy of that record, which also resides in my collection. So, what needs to happen is that all digitally-recorded music be subjected to all sorts of technological revisions in order to achieve warmth missing from a CD's sound. In short, tweak the Technology to take us all backwards to the warmth of Vinyl.

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Finally I need to explain something here, something I'd never thought of until I was reading a book consisting of Rock Reviews by Robert Christgau of the Village Voice. He'd alluded to the potential ill-logic of Papa Kendall and his Daughter singing that Heaven was Just A Sin Away. I honestly didn't think that when I'd first heard the song. And I still don't, although the idea did give me a case of mental whiplash...