Reasons and Recommendations

I could be described in a lot of ways, some flattering, most not, but more recently the term “neglectful” would do the trick quite nicely, at least with regard to keeping this blog current. It’s been a busy couple of weeks and posting hasn’t been my priority…Here’s what has been:

- Paying the government what I owe (that I earned and they took)
- Organizing the house into a much more manageable “move out” mode
- Negotiating rent contracts in California
- Cleaning up the @#$%ing yard
- Getting my finances in order for two months of fun sans pay cheques
- Waiting for Pearl Jam’s tour dates to be released (all of them)
- Mourning the loss of several Zoey habits I had come to love (laps of the house at bedtime)
- Juggling YMCA and school board commitments and clients
- Finding music to get me through each day

Looks busy huh? Well I can assure you…it shouldn’t paralyze me as it does. Anyway, I promise to post more, include more nonsense, and generally wreak more creative havoc on that chunk of cyber-whatever that this occupies. How’s that?

Leaning less towards self-admonishment and more towards the interesting and beneficial, I mean, you should get something out of dropping by here shouldn’t you. Just reading random crapity crap about someone else’s life doesn’t seem like reward enough…So, how ‘bout some of this…

If you haven’t seen either Pearl Jam, “ Immagine in Cornice” or Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, “Live at Radio City Music Hall” then you obviously hate music or you may have several undiagnosed disabilities. The Pearl Jam DVD is one of the coolest shot live music films ever with plenty of off stage footage and just about the coolest visuals ever. According to this DVD concert venues in Italy tend to be thousand year old stone roman stadiums and if Immagine in Cornice doesn’t bowl you over you weren’t capable of being bowled over. As for Dave and Tim’s latest partnership you couldn’t find a better example to two musicians in complete and joyous synchronicity with each other as ”Live at Radio City Music Hall”. Songs you were indifferent to before come alive and stamp themselves clean and legibly on your heart. The stories that Dave litters between songs are fun and insightful and a live recording enthusiasts very reason for recording. That’s not even mentioning the guitar genius that Tim Reynolds obviously is. Like Dave or don’t like Dave but if you like music you should own this.

With Manny Ramirez’s 50 game suspension for substance use fresh on the front pages I’ve officially resigned from Dodger fandom. It wasn’t just Manny. I was having a hard time with the conversion anyway. There’s way too much ‘Michigan and Trumball’, and Yawkey Way weaved in and out of my heart and soul. Manny being Manny just sealed the deal. So on my way back to Red Sox Nation I stopped by “ The Red Seat” for a purchase or two. You should too. In the immortal words of Wooderson, “you’d be a whole lot cooler if you did.”

Download, buy, borrow, steal the following:

Van Morrison, Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Atherton, Atherton

Chris Isaak, Mr. Lucky

Ray LaMontagne, Live Sessions, an iTunes exclusive

Sara Bereilles, River (Live) an iTunes Single

Also…whether you like Bruce Springsteen or not get your arse over to his website and check out the coolest thing I’ve ever seen (well, close). After every show Bruce not only releases the set list rather promptly but he also posts a PDF of the actual piece of paper the handwritten setlist was penned on. Yikes…how #$%&ing awesome is that!

I’ve decided that now is the appropriate time to brainwash Zo with as much good Bruce Springsteen as possible since I was robbed of the pleasure for at least half of my empty, aimless life. I started her off with this beauty from Max’s Kansas City in 1972: