11.13.2008
R.I.P. Mitch Mitchell
11.06.2008
Deftones bass player Chi Cheng in a coma
"Rock band Deftones bass player Chi Cheng was involved in a car accident yesterday in Santa Clara, California. The band member is reported to be in stable but serious condition."
read more here
11.03.2008
10.31.2008
10.27.2008
10.24.2008
R.I.P. Merl Saunders
Merl Saunders was born Merl Saunders Washington (he dropped the "Washington" for show biz purposes) in San Mateo, California on February 14, 1934; he passed away early this morning (October 24, 2008) at Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco.
Saunders grew up in San Francisco and was a proficient piano player by age 10. He attended Polytechnic High School, Served in the Air Force and Attended University of Mainz in Germany. Saunders married Betty Crenshaw and leaves behind three children (Anthony Saunders, Merl Saunders Jr., Susan Saunders) and a number of grand kids.
Saunders became one of the preeminent Hammond B-3 player of his generation; beginning his long strange trip by apprenticing with the great Jimmy Smith. In 1970 Saunders began playing with Jerry Garcia in the Bay Area under bands called Legion of Mary and then Garcia/Saunders. The duo recorded a number of famous albums including Heavy Turbulence, Fire Up, and Live at the Keystone. Their 1990 collaboration, Blues from the Rainforest, was a Billboard Top 10 in the New Age category.
Saunders contributed to the Grateful Dead album Grateful Dead (1971), and in the mid-1980s worked with the band as musical director for the "Twilight Zone" television show.
He became known as the senior member of the jam band scene having played with Phish, Blues Traveler and Widespread Panic. He was instrumental in allowing young talent to play and record with him, giving first opportunity to the likes of Sheila E, Chris Hayes (Huey Lewis & the News), Bonnie Hayes (Billy Idol) and Bob Steeler (Hot Tuna).
In parallel to his rock career, Saunders worked as a jazz trio player, performing and recording with Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, and Paul Butterfield. He also contributed to the scores of the films "Heavy Traffic" and "Fritz the Cat."
a take on hope
10.23.2008
Cheech & Chong on Tour
Jane's Addiction Reunites!
10.09.2008
Amendola & Parker Tonight @ the Palms
10.07.2008
Dark Star Orchestra Tonight @ The Crest
i'm not a huge D.S.O. guy but tonight is all about supporting Jam Bands in Sac. not to mention, the Crest is my favorite local music venue, as underused as it is. hope to see some of you phreaks there!
10.01.2008
like a pheonix
my ticket request is in. we'll see. no expectations. of course, my best man, bear, lives in virginia. of course, bear and i are known to have seen a phish show or 30 together. of course, we have scored into a handful of impossible shows too. we'll see.
just one thing. PLEASE, PLEASE don't come through the best coast around my wedding. PLEASE!
9.24.2008
Keller Williams Band - Live Tonight - Free Stream of Show
from iClips..
Tune in to iClips.net on Wednesday, 9/24 for an exclusive webcast of the Keller Williams w/Moseley, Droll & Sipe concert at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, WI. Cornmeal will be opening the show, and their set will also be broadcast on iClips.
The show will begin at approximately 8pm CST, with Keller hitting the stage around 9:30pm. No matter where you are located, you’ll have the best seat in the house as iClips delivers the excitement of KW’s live performance right into your home!
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Keller Williams is literally a one-man jam band. His fascinating live shows feature him solo on-stage with a Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro looping unit, and he creates his backing loops in the moment, building and improvising as he goes on his custom-made ten-string guitar, and thanks to his equally as quirky, upbeat, and semi-surreal songs (which he frequently weaves into extended, half-improvised medleys) and his warm, friendly tenor singing voice, Williams is an utterly unique performer whose musical eccentricities don't keep him from being immediately accessible.
9.22.2008
Devin Hoff - Solo - Tonight in Sac
Devin Hoff is a master of the bass, double bass, contrabass and an all around, bad-ass, motha'. I just realized that Mr. Hoff is playing a solo gig tonight at the Java Lounge. He is scheduled to play from 8 - 9 p.m.
All day I have been going back and forth on whether I should go to the City tonight for a show, You see, The Brian Blade Fellowship is playing at Yoshi's. The Fellowship is, imo, is the absolute sickest jazz band of the last 15-20 years! I've been fortunate to see them once. But once is not enough. It's been a long day of self inflicted torture on this one. But now, Mr. Hoff has presented an alternative. The same? NOT EVEN! But, hey...the Fellowship will be back and a master of the Bass Guitar in my backyard is always a great thing!
Hope to see some of you freaks there!
9.15.2008
Pink Floyd founding member Richard Wright dies
Pink Floyd keyboardist and founding member Richard "Rick" Wright passed away today (Monday, September 15). According to a post on David Gilmour's website, "Richard died today after a short struggle with cancer." He was 65.
Wright co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with guitarist Syd Barrett, bassist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason. Known primarily as a keyboardist, Wright also sang and earned songwriting credits on several of Floyd's most popular albums including Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.
Wright continued to work with Pink Floyd through the 80s and 90s and is featured heavily on the final Floyd studio album, 1994's The Division Bell. He also participated in the Pink Floyd reunion that occurred for Live 8 in 2005 (read the review here).
In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Wright put out two solo albums, 1978's Wet Dream and 1996's Broken China, as well as 1984's Identity with Dave Harris.
The pastor who clashed with Palin
"Baptist minister Howard Bess, who wrote a book Palin wanted banned and who fought her on abortion and gay rights, says the country should fear her election."
read more at Salon here
Top Facts Everyone Must Know About Sarah Palin - From Grizzly Bay
from GRIZZLYBAY.ORG
Top Facts Everyone Must Know About Sarah Palin
All facts below about Sarah Palin are backed up by links to credible news sources
1) She is opposed to abortion even in cases of rape and incest (even if victims are children)
2) She offered a bounty of $150 for each left front leg of freshly killed wolves
3) She is presently under investigation in Alaska for abuse of power
4) She strongly supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
5) She promotes aerial hunting of wolves and bears even though Alaskans voted twice to ban the practice (VIDEO)
6) She used $400,000 of state money to fund a propaganda campaign in support of aerial hunting
7) She is a champion for big oil and her campaign slogan has become "Drill, baby, drill!"
8) She believes creationism should be taught in public schools
9) She believes man-made global warming is a farce
10) She is opposed to listing the polar bear as an endangered species because it might limit oil exploitation
11) While mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire the city librarian because the librarian refused to censor books
12) She supports the Alaskan Independence Party which seeks independence from the United States (VIDEO)
13) As mayor of Wasilla, she made rape victims pay for their own forensic evidence kits
14) She obtained her first passport just last year (2007)
NOTE: We live year-round in Alaska
Please send our website to any and all media outlets
Download Top Facts About Sarah Palin in various formats: PDF, DOC, HTML, TXT
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New Rules
Mr Maher is taking some heat from his comments on Palin. Last week, on the first show of the new season, Maher called her a "stewardess". much to my delight but not so much for others, apparently. Maher defended himself this week by restating that Palin is nothing more than a stewardess. aah, did i mention i love this guy? also, this week, he had Janeanne Garafolo and Roseanne Barr as guests. Garafalo gave Bill some shit for his opening skit but didn't take offense to anything after that. Roseanne, who if you are not aware, is a very popular blogger and a new favorite political pundit of mine. she also didn't take offense to any of Bill's comments. those are two.....semi-extreme feminists. you be the judge.
#spinewatch - help the media "grow a pair"
I don't 'subscribe' to many blogs. I wish I could follow more but I really don't have the time. there are a few, however, hip, seedy and informative, that I check religiously. One of them is Craig Newmark's blog. He, of course, started Craigslist and is quite honestly one of my living heroes. Really Jalew? Yep. Really. If your familiar with his path, his personal choice NOT to sell out one of the internets most used and potentially most profitable web sites and his passions and projects outside of running CL, then you understand why. The man stands for A LOT and it ALL is to OUR benefit. That said, I would like to share this from his blog..
#spinewatch: Help the media regain its spine
There are good signs that the media is resisting bullying from the McCain/Bush/Rove axis, and we should encourage 'em. They realize that the reporting some years ago regarding WMD was, maybe, not so good, and they're starting to report on the bad guys again.
Jay Rosen of PressThink and NewAssignment.net has a great idea, let's encourage the press by cheerleading them on Twitter:
Spread the meme. Use #spinewatch for key links and quotes showing the press beginning to hit hard on McCain's "facts don't matter" attitude.
I use the following to track #spinewatch:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23spinewatch
I've seen at least one McCain scammer operating.
Steve Outing noticed right away.
However, Rachel Sklar has the best observation I've seen:
Please note that, though Fey stole the show with her Palin (never mind the look, wow did she ever nail the voice!), the best line of the entire show belonged to Poehler's Hillary: "In conclusion, I invite the media to grow a pair. And if you can't, I will lend you mine." BRAVA!
UPDATE: #spinewatch is spreading:
Good commentary here
here's a good aggregation of comments like:
from Michael Kingsley:"The media have trouble calling a lie a lie, or asserting that one side is lying more than the other -- even when that is objectively the case. They lean over backwards to give liars the benefit of the doubt, even when there is no doubt. Objectivity can’t be objectively measured. What can be is balance. So if the sins of both campaigns are reported as roughly equal, the media feel they are doing their job -- even if this is objectively untrue."
Disclaimer: I encouraged Jay to do this and have supported him in a very minor way to find new ways to fund investigative reporting.
9.14.2008
Bakumatsu Koshashin ..
Mcain Pulls Ahead in Florida & North Dakota
time to get dirty Barack!
9.13.2008
Green Living Resources - The Healthy Building Network
McCain Attacks Palin's Experience
ahh, video. it tells a story. a story Mccain would like to forget.
9.08.2008
Phish Reunites.....Kinda'
If you haven't heard, Phish played a short set at Brad Sand's wedding last weekend. The quartet played staples "Suzy Greenberg," "Waste" and "Julius." Afterwards, Police drummer Stewart Copeland joined the Wedding Band for a rendition of The Police's "Can't Stand Losing You" and The Meters' "Fire On The Bayou."
Here is a rough video of some Julius. My favorite has to be when the light hits Phishman....COMEDY!
See you on tour next Phall bitches!
Pics From My Last Job - Before
ObamaTravel.org
Confessions of an RNC Rent-A-Cop
Moose ex Machina
Sarah Palin is trying to seduce independent voters. But she comes across like a whip-wielding mistress who wants to discipline a naughty America.
Read the article from Slate, by Gary Kamiya here.
9.03.2008
The Future Is Here - Dubai
i realize i've uploaded a lot of videos from current lately and i wasn't planning on doing it again until i came across this and knew i had to share it. i've been aware of Dubai for a while now. always reading crazy stories about the developments there. always hearing of the wealth. but i really enjoyed this video documentary. i hope you do also.
"The future is here....and I don't know how I feel about it."
how do you feel about it? amazing advances in engineering, human achievements? or completely disgusting display of wealth and egos?
9.01.2008
8.31.2008
8.25.2008
8.16.2008
REGENERATION - THE NEW FILM FROM STS9!
STS9....musicians, artists, activists and now, film makers. There is NO mold for this group of gentelmen. They continue to push the boundaries of labels and expectations. There really seems to be no fear. Only Love.
8.12.2008
8.09.2008
Why God hates Amputees
Freedom Isn't Free...And Neither Are Private Contractors
Jonny Depp's Eco Island
"Apparently Johnny Depp bought an island for around $3,000,000 a while back. And, since there aren't exactly power lines running to the tiny island, he had to figure out how to power his (ridiculously posh) home. For the green-minded Depp, diesel generators just weren't an option.
So he turned to Mike Strizki to help him build a system that would produce enough power to quench his celebrity-born thirst for decadence while not throwing off massive amounts of greenhouse gas. The result is a solar system that stores excess energy as hydrogen for use at night, or during cloudy times of day (not too common in the Bahamas, but still.)"
Earth Art...Literally.
There's an exhibit of site-specific earth art installations going on at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Ontario, Canada. Artists from all over the world have come to install unique environmental pieces, which will be on view until October 13. There are sod ramps, floating sculptures, and other Andy Goldsworthy-esque pieces. There's also a tumblog of installation photos, which shows how some of the pieces were constructed and installed. Via Cool Hunting.
The Prosecution of Goerge W. Bush for Murder
" In The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, Bugliosi presents a tight, meticulously researched legal case that puts George W. Bush on trial in an American courtroom for the murder of nearly 4,000 American soldiers fighting the war in Iraq. Bugliosi sets forth the legal architecture and incontrovertible evidence that President Bush took this nation to war in Iraq under false pretenses—a war that has not only caused the deaths of American soldiers but also over 100,000 innocent Iraqi men, women, and children; cost the United States over one trillion dollars thus far with no end in sight; and alienated many American allies in the Western world. "
Read excerpts from the book here. Listen to an audio clip of the author explaining why he wrote the book here. View a gallery of related photos here. Finally, you can buy the book here.
3.04.2008
Build Your Own Meat..
..or comic strip, that is. Some of you know the Red Meat strip from the local Sac News & Peyoo. Well now you can make your own strip.
Choose from a host of characters, from monkeys, floating skulls, a man with a lemon for a head and more, and then create your own Red Meat comic.
Take a screengrab and then use a hosting site like Photobucket or imageshack to show your friends.