Jazz & Blues Fridays - 2d Edition

Roy Buchanan left us too soon on August 14, 1988. At the time he was widely regarded as the best blues guitar player you had never heard of. His stiletto-spiked solos could take the enamel off your teeth and peel the pain off the wall. He was a master technician who NEVER sacrificed an ounce of feel or emotion. Go buy lots of his records, and check out this concert from Kansas City, August 2, 1985, over at Jazz and Blues Fridays on Mpomy.com

Sun Destroyers - update

Playing in a band can be one of the great pains in the arse is it's not going well. You can simply torture yourself and your bandmates and relationships can become strained, friendships broken.

I only mention this because, when it's going well, musically that is, everything feels so great. Sun Destroyers has become one of the singualr joys of my life. After seeing the Marillion show the night before, it was great to go out and make some noise of my own, and at last night's rehersal, we did just that!

Now Gabe's doing the writing and arranging and I just show up and play bass, so it's not like this is my band or anything. And last night Gabe was putting himself through a bit of angst (although he sounded great). Perhaps this was related to lack of proper supper (we practice right when we should be eating our evening meal). So, I don't know, maybe I've got it very easy. But, whatever the case, the music is just flowing, the parts are getting locked down more tightly, and there's this beautiful energy and emotion.

So the next step is Gabe's taking some of the bits from 6/2/05 and we'll see if that's good enough to get us a gig. I know it's just a matter of time, really.

Marillion - acoustic trio

MARILLION

This was a great show at the new World Cafe Live space just across the Schuylkill River. I was a little miffed that they had no seats for us (normally this is a seated venue), but the show did not disappoint.

H, Pete and Rothers turned in some nice renditions of old and new Marillion songs. Rothery especially lit it up on 'Sugar Mice' giving us that sugnature, not-quite-gilmour, not-quite-hackett, oomph that only he can do - powerful stuff. The show lasted about 2-1/2 hours, over 20 songs, including several bits that they hadn't planned/rehearsed, especiallu 'Genie' - my thought on this strategy is that it's OK to a point, but for the most part, I do want the polish of a planned set. Still, these guys are good enough to pretty much pull it off.

THe best part of the show was that Emily really enjoyed it. We went to a full-on Marillion concert many years ago and it was a disaster. We'd only been dating a short time and Em still wasn't sold on all this prog stuff. The show was not very good, even to a true fan, and Em just flat-out hated it. We survived that (no problem!), but it's nice, all these years later, to have the vindication of a fine show that is fully appreciated by my "better-half".

Where have I been all week?

Well, the good thing about no updates is that Jazz & Blues Fridays has stayed right at the top of the list. Not sure how many people are using this - I wanted to stay under-the-radar, but not that under-the-radar! We'll have some more music (right on schedule) tomorrow.

NEW FEATURE: Jazz and Blues Fridays

This is actually two features in one. As a public service to the world, I will share an unreleasaed concert from the Mpomy archive each Friday. The .mp3s will be available for download for one week, with a new concert going up on the following Friday.

My only request, and this is pure honor system, is that you make a contribution to Multiple Sclerosis research and help me reach my fundraising goal. Here's the link for the MS Society. I'm only asking for people to contribute once, and I'll be posting new Jazz and Blues every Friday - so it's a pretty good deal.

This week we've got a killer concert from Buddy Rich and his Big Band, live in West Berlin in 1977. The sound quality is pretty much crystal clear and the performance is stunning. So go enjoy Jazz and Blues Fridays, and thanks for helping me do my part to help cure the MS.

Next RPG .mp3 is available for your listening pleasure

Please check out the RPG hompage for our latest offering. This is one of my concotions, called Spring Training and it features a blistering 'backwards' solo by Gillies at about the midway point. Brilliant stuff!

Summer Love

Even though they are the Phils' division rivals, you have to love what's going on with the Washington Nationals. Unbelieveable homestand, 10 wins in a row, first place in the division. We actually got to see the Nationals at RFK on June 4 (they beat the Marlins), and you can see why the DC fans are in love. Here's a great article from today's Washington Post - read it and feel the love.

PINK. FLOYD. REUNION.

This is not a rumor. This is a done deal, confirmed at the 'official website'. This is a one-off at the London G8 benefit on July 2. What can I say? the Floyd is one of the major reasons why I gre to love music so much, all those years ago. I've seen the post-Waters version twice, and find it hard to imagine better performances. As a One-off, I don't expect the elaborate pyrotechnics that have accompanied Floyd and Waters' recent efforts, but you never know. It's not like they don't have the fundage.

I will say that I am glad that it is not tour (a la The Eagles/Fleetwood Mac). It seems this is just about participating for a good cause.

Judy's Cafe - That'll just about do it

Judy's opened in 1974 and has been serving Emily and I the best comfort food we've ever had for about 8 years. This is a place where everyone feels instantly comfortable and a great time is always had.

On Sunday, June 19, 2005, Judy's will serve the last brunch and then close for good. I'm not sure what I will do without my regular dose of cheddar crusted chicken and baked goat cheese appetizers. Em and I started going there during the earliest days of our relationship and even signed our marriage license there just a few days before 5/17/03.

Thank you, Judy's, for the memories, for the brilliant chow, and for eight years of fun. You will be missed.

Was Howard Dean wrong?

Controversial comments?

Not if they're true...

Free Katie - while there's still time!

You may remember my lighthearted post on the absolutely rediculous HolmesSlice/CruiseControl fiasco. More than two weeks later, I'm feeling a bit pleased with myself for the astute observation made prior to the story going out of control. So here's some more fun, since it's Friday. This is courtesy AmericaBlog (you should be reading this everyday).

FreeKatie.net

RPG .mp3 - Thanks Gillies

My recording of RPG (not Role Playing Game, but REISNEBERG POMERANTZ GILLIES) is a bit biased to the right side, sorta killing the even-ness of the mix. Not to worry, though. Just needs a little TLC on ye olde mixing board.

In the meantime, we have a good excuse for a story. Allow me to let Mr. Gillies relate the tale in his own words:

I went public back in '99. For a while there, my company, AndrewGillies.com(nasdaq: GILZ) had a bigger market cap than General Motors. My options wereworth millions. Then it all came crashing down. I had to scale way, way backjust to keep the site afloat. Nasdaq delisted me. I shaved off my goatee. Myonly friends were greyhounds.
But I survived, dudes, I survived. And that's why you need to go toAndrewGillies.com, that's right, AndrewGillies.com for a FREE download of RPG's5th try at recording that hard-to-fathom sonic creation, "Jen."
Only on AndrewGillies.com!
Lator,
AndrewGillies.com

Here's a link to the song itself, Jen - in all her glory. Listen and enjoy!!

MOST. ANNOYING. THING. EVER.

Eagles chants at Phillies games. Why do you come to a Phillies game to do an Eagles chant? The 'wave' is a distant second. It seems I'm not the only one whose cuyons are made frosty by this abhorrent practice. Once again, the inimitable Bill Conlin.

Anti-Choice Democrats

Oy yoy yoy. This is a tough one at the Blogerantz/Beck-a-rants household. Can we justify voting for an anti-choice Democrat (Bob Casey, Jr.) to replace an anti-choice Republican (Rick Santorum)?? If there's no difference between the candidates, does it matter what party-affiliation they claim?

While Emily thinks the answer may be no, I'm not so sure. After all, Harry Reid (D-NV) is an anti-choice Democrat, and he's fighting harder than anyone to keep anti-choice ideologues off the high court.

Here's a discussion from DailyKos that sets forth all point nicely in the context of the National Organization of Women's endorsement of a pro-choice republican senator who voted to confirm anti-choice judges.

Perhaps more importantly, the discussion also includes this picture:

Separated at Birth:

Phillies Rolling

There's been a slight break in the action here at Blogerantz - sorry, I've been a bit under the weather. So to get back on track, let's take a moment a celebrate those who are also back on track.

The Phillies have lost exactly one game in the month of June and are 8-1 on this homestand. They're beating quality teams (Texas and Arizona) and they even made a big trade. So let's start with Rich Hoffman's Daily News column entitles Ed & Charlie Not So Dumb. It's a good article and a good title. Am I in total agreement? I don't know yet. But this point that a wise man has been stressing (my wife's dad) is worth repeating - it's the players, not the manager and not the GM. Read the Hoffman piece for more on that.

Balls, Sticks & Stuff is a real good Phillies/Philly Sports blog. Today's bit on the trade is a great round up of the mumblings and grumblings around the net regarding the departure of Placebo Polanco. Personally, I think this was a great deal.

Monday, Monday

It's 90+ degrees in Philly and our a/c doesn't work. BOY am I glad we're moving. Have you ever seen a cat pant? Not pretty....

Phils loose, but make it close in garbage-time. If we didn't have Aaron Fultz, we may have won that game. Makes you think, doesn't it...

RPG - Not Role Playing Games, Vito (see, below) - that's Reisenberg Pomerantz and Gillies - that rockin' prog, metal, jam outfit from DC - more info can be found here. Sorry if anyone else was either (a) confused, (b) workin' the Chianti, or (c) hoping that I had a twenty-sided die they could borrow - I don't. And, of course, .mp3's will be up shortly.

Stay cool, everybody!

MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC

GREAT Sun Destroyers practice last night (see below), and tomorrow will be a day in the lab with RPG. More .mp3's to follow from that experimentation. So it's a great weekend of music. thanks to Joe and Gabe for a killer Thursday night. Let's see what Saturday brings.

And, of course, after the monster RPG jam, it's baseball at RFK (GO NATS!!!!).

SUN DESTROYERS - The New .mp3's Are Up

We had a NICE practice last night and got a pretty decent recording. Check out a few .mp3's at Sun Destroyers' hompage. The levels may be alittle low, but the recording is clean. Feel free to let us know what you think!

Getting it down on tape

Sun Destroyers is looking to get a few numbers down on tape tonight. We may not be endowed with any fancy recording studio, but, damnit, we've got heart. So hopefully, you'll soon hear just how tasty we've become. The music on the website is not bad, but we've been playing pretty steadily for several months now. We've gotten tighter and better at our tasks.

Personally, I'm very psyched for this. I've got a PreTrial conference after lunch where I'll probably get my head chopped off (figuratively speaking, of course), and I'll be ready to rock this evening. There's always that tape-anxiety where I freeze-up whn we're trying to get something down. Hopefully there'll be a minimum of that for all of us tonight. We know these songs and we play them well.

So keep your ears peeled and we'll have some spicy ear candy for you soon enough!

Phillies related - Good Things Happen Too

Not that this is the most optimistic column ever, but after Chase Utley's late heroics, it's worth reading today's Bill Conlin article. It was a strange game and very entertaining. As Scott Graham said at the halfway point - "It's about time to bring on the dancing bears."