Quote of the Day

It's been a long time since I've had a "Quote of the Day" here on my blog, but rereading one of my old favorites brought me to a quote that I absolutely love. So, from Raymond Chandler's "The Simple Art of Murder," I give you...

"The English may not always be the best writers in the world, but they are incomparably the best dull writers."

An interesting fact about...me!

Only one person has ever noticed- without having it pointed out to them first- that I have a permanent limp.

I don't know if that's good, bad, or completely meaningless.

Today's Mail

I've never seen so much packed into my mailbox...and I threw everything but the Campmor catalog away. What a disappointment.

Thanksgiving 2006

Mostly boring and kind of sad.

A Hungarian You Should Know

Ferenc Puskas died today...look him up.

Pickin' Out Some Drapes!

Wow, this is almost too good!

-A majority of the governorships.
-A majority in the House.
-A majority in the Senate (as soon as the GOP concedes VA).

AND

-Rumsfeld is gone.

Pardon me if I spend the majority of my time today smirking.

The Midterm Elections

Having now cast my vote I reserve the right to complain long and loud about anything I wish.

If you did not vote today I invite you to shut the hell up.

Update: Concerts

Shhh...this list isn’t COMPLETELY recycled!! I’ve been to a few more shows, and remembered a few more bands I’ve seen so I thought I’d add them! I also expanded some of the entries. I’ve also added the venues that I can remember.

Here they are, at least the ones I can remember without too much effort:

The Alarm: By far the best live band I've ever seen (five times?), you either saw them or you didn't, there's no point in trying to explain it. Check out the "Electric Folklore: Live" CD- I was there for all of the Boston shows on it! (Orpheum Theater and Wang Center in Boston)

The Proclaimers: Seen them three times- once in a space so small that it was almost awkward! The other two times were on consecutive nights in Boston and NYC. Love 'em. (The Paradise in Boston, B.B. King’s in NYC, and some little “downstairs” place in Greenwich Village)

Live: I saw them twice, once before they even had an album out- nevermind before Ed got all spiritual and again after they’d gotten “big.” Considering how young they were, they were REALLY good. (Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY)

The Ramones: I saw them twice. One of the times I got to work security and spent the night kneeling on the edge of the stage and getting smacked in the back by Johnny's guitar- it was great! Before the show they were eating bananas and Domino’s Pizza while arguing about old New York Giant football players. (Memorial Union Building, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, and somewhere I don’t remember!)

Husker Du: On the Warehouse tour. The end was nigh. They played the whole album in sequence, then came back for a one song encore (Helter Skelter). It was great! Loudest show I've ever been to! (Orpheum Theater, Boston)

Bob Mould: Seen him twice. First one was great. Second one was, ah, well, Bob, I appreciate you trying something new...and um, I'm PERFECTLY okay with your sexuality, so enough with the the backdrop showing pictures of leather boys! (Saratoga Winners, Cohoes, NY & Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA)

Midnight Oil: Great show, but Peter Garrett is the worst/strangest "dancer" I've ever seen! (Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA)

Stevie Ray Vaughan: I saw him twice. If I've ever witnessed "genius", it was watching him play guitar. (Centrum, Worcester, MA & Northeastern University, Boston, MA)

George Thorogood: Seen him five or more times. Like TMBG he tours all the time and the shows are cheap. He isn't Mozart, but he puts on a good show. (Providence, RI & multiple times at Club Casino, Hampton Beach, NH)

They Might Be Giants: I've seen them so many times I stopped counting. Not that they are my favorite band, but they are good, they are always on tour in the Northeast and always at places with reasonable prices. (SUNY-Albany, Albany, NY, Saratoga Winners, Cohoes, NY, and more)

Violent Femmes: Co-headlined one of the TMBG shows I went to- I got paid to see it! I would have gone anyway, but who's going to say “no” to that!? (SUNY-Albany, Albany, NY)

The Donnas: Small club, as good/better live as on their albums, and, you know, Brett's hot. (The Paradise, Boston, MA)

Black '47: Well, the Pogues had broken up, Shane wasn't touring, Flogging Molly hadn't made it to the East coast yet, and it was March 17th. They're good, Larry just tries too hard sometimes. A good show, but it was in an “Irish” bar and was almost ruined by those who were “being Irish” for the day and a lot of big-haired secretary types. (Stamford, CT)

Morrissey: He was, well, Morrissey. He ended his encore halfway through when the people mobbing the stage got too be a little too much for him- he's very sensitive. (Red Bank, NJ)

The Sheila Divine: They opened the Morrissey show. One of the best opening acts I've ever seen- actually bought their CD on my way out of the show. (Red Bank, NJ)

Chuck Berry: Elvis who? (Chesire Fairgrounds, Swanzey, NH)

Roy Orbison: The voice. What a voice. (Chesire Fairgrounds, Swanzey, NH)

James Brown: Sadly this was during his PCP phase, so it was mostly mumble lyrics in between dance moves. (Chesire Fairgrounds, Swanzey, NH)

Carl Perkins: Sadly underappreciated, part of Rock and Roll's foundation. But what a bad toupee! (Chesire Fairgrounds, Swanzey, NH)

Brian Setzer: Saw him during the big band phase, which was fine, but I prefer the more true rockabilly vibe. (Albany, NY)

The Toasters: Good show. Had to laugh when I realized that the guy who was taking and selling tickets at the door turned out to be the lead singer! (Pearl Street, Northampton, MA)

Public Image Limited: Fine, I went because I wanted to see Johnny, not so much because P.I.L. were great (they were “interesting” to "pretty good") but so did everyone else! (Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA)

Billy Bragg: Twice, both good. Got lucky at one because he was touring with Bare Naked Ladies and he went on first- so I didn't have to sit through them! (The Egg, Albany, NY)

The Reverend Horton Heat: Seen him twice, puts on a great show and usually has a good opening act. (Pearl Street, Northampton, MA)

The Amazing Royal Crowns: Opened for the Reverend Horton Heat, along with the Sheila Divine, one of a few good opening acts I’ve seen. (Pearl Street, Northampton, MA)

Social Distortion: It only took me twenty years to get around to seeing them- it was worth the wait! (Poughkeepsie, NY)

Flogging Molly: As good as I expected them to be. This concert has now provided me with the worst opening bad I've ever seen, ZOX. (Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, Providence, RI)