STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES (AGAIN)

 So they're releasing the early seasons of 'Sesame Street' on dvd.

These go back aways, my daughter used to watch them when

she was little. So what's stupid?

 Apparently, they're being released with a parental

warning label BECAUSE:

 

Snuffleupagus was an imaginary friend...

Cookie Monster ate unhealthy...

And Oscar the Grouch was too grouchy...(duh!)

 

 How stupid is that, my daughter never once wondered

why Snuffleupagus wasn't hanging out in our yard.

 Most of us eat unhealthy...and that probably has more

to do with fast food restaurants than Sesame Street...

 And stupid crap like parental warning on old children's

dvds make me grouchy!!

 

(Of course my wife says I'm like that anyway...)

ROAD SIGNS TO WATCH FOR

DANGER: SNAKES CHASING CARS

















WATCH FOR MAN WITH FLAG FOR HAND
















DANGER: MAN AHEAD BUILDING HILLS IN ROAD



















AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE:
BEWARE: ZOMBIE LEGS WALKING AHEAD

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMI

 At least if he were still alive. Jimi would have

been 65 this year, which brings up the question -

would he still be a musical innovator if he were alive now?

Would he be in secluded retirement or playing oldies

tours? Would he have been able to get back on track

musically and keep up a long-running career a la

Eric Clapton (but with better music)?

 You know, Are You Experienced? was the first

stereo album I bought, way back when. Didn't even

have a stereo, (the original stereo albums had to

be played on the proper system or the record would

get fucked up) so I had to play it on my parents stereo,

which was best when they weren't home so I could turn it up

LOUD...

 Yeah, that was some incredible music, still enjoy

listening to it.

Thanks Jimi for making my teenage years and beyond

just that much better...

RIP:KEVIN DUBROW

 Died Sunday aged 52. Way too young in my book.

Never a big fan of Quiet Riot (or any other 'hair metal'

bands), they are justly famous for their cover of Slade's

Cum On Feel The Noize.

 Condolences to his bandmates and family as

Kevin joins the 'big band in the sky' (or even the 'big

band underground').

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Headline in newspaper: "Giuliani Stresses Independence

In Oil Needs While At Car Race"

 

WTF?

 

I'm sure watching more NASCAR events will be

good for oil independence...after all...

it's not like they use any petroleum products

to make those constant left turns...

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

 44 years ago President Kennedy was assassinated.

I remember being in school, possibly the lunchroom

when they told us. Even at the age of 10 I remember

it coming as a shock. And then watching Jack Ruby kill

Oswald on live TV. Unexpected, and for back then,

almost unbelievable. I do remember crying while

watching the funeral, especially when little John-John

saluted the casket as it went by.

 And now, of course, history shows that JFK wasn't

all we may have thought he was in the years that

followed...

 

But it sure seems like everything went downhill from there...

BEER,BEER,BEER,BEER...(pt.1)

Well, you may know I'm a beer lover; but beyond
drinking for drinking's sake(and I find nothing
wrong with that), I also enjoy trying new beers.
If you follow this blog at all, you probably know
that I'm up over 500 different beers; below are
just a few of interest listed.

This was a pretty good brew; used to be made in
Tampa, but it's contracted out now. When it first
came out, it was a draft only sold during Gasparilla.
(hence the name - after the pirate for whom the
festival is named) Now you can buy it bottled,
but only at the appropriate time of year (February-ish).

You can't find this anymore. It wasn't that good,

but it used to be made in the town where I live.

At one time, the bottle had the logo printed

directly on it, which

was pretty neat.

Don't care much for A-B products now

that I've discovered more flavorful

beers, but I do like this one the best

of all the A-B products; nice smooth

honey flavor does the trick.

This one is not one of my favorites,

but the label is really cool, isn't it?

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

Well, our forward thinking school board here in Poke County, FL has
once again shown their high level of intelligence. An article in the paper today
talks about how 4 of the 7 members would vote AGAINST any regulation
requiring our schools to teach evolution! And 1 more is unsure...unsure of
whether she has a brain, I would suppose. And this in a county with one
of the lowest graduation rates in the state...and let's not forget one of the
highest teen pregnancy rates. Yes, we're an intelligent bunch here;
apparently intelligent by design, which is why we're not evolving as
fast as the rest of the country, let alone the world.
Yes, the world of Taliban Christians is a wonderful place to be, here in the
1700s...whoops...
I mean the 2000s.

8 NEW BEERS...YES, 8

And all at one sitting! But actually, they weren't all
full-size beers, 7 of them were 5oz samples. Had them at the
new BJs Brewhouse in Orlando by the Millennia Mall
(and the new IKEA store, but that's another story). They
brew all their own beers, of which there seem to be 7 standards
(hence the tasty sampler) and other beers that they brew
seasonally. The 8th beer was an excellent Pumpkin Ale, that
actually tasted like pumpkin, as opposed to the poor A-B variety
that they've come out with as a seasonal. Click on the link above to
see the other 7 beers, and if you're in the area check it out.
Oh, yeah, and the food's good too. I had an excellent jambalaya
made with sausage, chicken & shrimp, and it was very spicy and
the best I've had.
So you've been warned...check it out!

GRAND FUNK RAILROAD...

...Possibly the WORST cover band in the world! Saw them Saturday night
at Ribfest in St.Pete FL. Opening acts Atlanta Rhythm Section, & Eddie
Money. Also a performance of Classic Albums Live "The Wall" which was
a poor choice; I never liked it and it is really a slow draggy album.
But back to GFRR. Despite having both Mel & Don still in the band, the
sound didn't sound like GFRR. While Bruce Kulick did a fine job on guitar,
he didn't seem to have the clasic Mark Farner sound. And the singer, who
according to the band bio was a singer for .38 Special (but late 80's 38 Special,
not the classic band of earlier times) sucked. Not sure how he got a career in
music, but both my wife and I felt he was not much of a singer of anyone's
music - let alone trying to recreate the Grand Funk sound.
So consider yourself warned; if you really want the Grand Funk experience,
go catch a Mark Farner Band show...not only do you get the GFRR guitar sound,
but you also get the classic voice! And the man puts on a hell of a show, we've seen
him 4 times, and he gets better every time. And he usually signs autographs and
chats with the fans, truly a great artist and human being.

LAST 6 BOOKS READ

1) Beneath The Diamond Sky by Barney Hoskyns: A look at the overall history of Haight-Ashbury during the years 1965-70. Interesting stuff, especially for those of us who were
almost old enough to go there during it's prime, but couldn't.

2) Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs: Further adventures of Temperance Brennan, still nothing
like the TV show; still great reading. This one(#2) involves dead children and a secret cult.

3) The Codex by Douglas Preston: Maxwell Broadbent, dying mult-multi-millionaire buries 1/2 billion dollars worth of artifacts in the middle of a jungle and tells his 3 sons to find their inheritance, but they have to work together. Not bad.

4) Isle Of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell: Trying to be the Carl Hiaasen of Virginia, Cornwell writes
a somewhat humorous tale of pirates and state police, including a visit from her usual character, Kay Scarpetta. Not bad, but no Carl Hiaasen.

5) This Must Be The Place by David Bowman: The Talking Heads story. I always enjoy a well-written music bio.

6) The Stainless Steel Rat Goes To Hell by Harry Harrison: Yeah, him and Alice Cooper. Unfortunately, Slippery Jim DeGriz should have stayed there! I enjoyed the first few books of this series, but after that, it seems to be pretty much the same basic concept over & over.

RIP:HAROLD MAX MAYER

Grandson of the famous Oscar Mayer...

and as I'm sure everyone called him(at least to his back:

...............................................THE BIG WEINER......................................

CAPTAIN BEYOND

Beyond what, you may ask? Well, actually, they're a band (or were),

and were actually quite a good band, judging from their first album.

I picked up this CD through Amazon.com with a $10 gift certificate,

just browsed thru the $10 CDs, and liked the cover and the name.

Interestingly, it turns out the band had the original bass player for

Iron Butterfly(Lee Dorman), and also Larry'Rhino'Reinhardt who joined

Iron Butterfly at the same time as Mike Pinera of Blues Image (Ride,Captain,Ride).

And, the singer turns out to be the singer of Deep Purple MK1.

So the music turns out to be quite good, early 70s rock, nothing fancy, just

good old rock. Don't know why I never heard this in `72 when it first came

out, but better late than never.

RIP:THOMAS DAWES

A lesser known, pretty much unknown 60s musician. He was
co-founder of the Cyrkle, who had a 60s hit with Red Rubber Ball,
which I remember from growing up. His band also opened for
the Beatles on their last U.S. tour - how cool is that?

But for those of you not into pop music, he later wrote the jingles:
"Plop,Plop,Fizz,Fizz" for Alka-Seltzer; 7UP,the Uncola; "We're American
Airlines, Doing What We Do Best".

Only 64, always a shame when someone that affected my youth dies.
Rock on Tom...

TODAY IN HISTORY

"This Day in History, November 1

On November 1st, 1870, the National Weather Service made its first official meteorological forecast." 

 And they've been getting it wrong ever since...