Saturday Morning (barely)

Truly saddened by the passing of Danny Federici, it's that gutteral Hammond b3 in songs like "My Hometown" and the solo on "Hungry Heart" that gave the Boss his spice. It was interesting to read that it was Danny's band to start with and he kept adding parts. It must be tough for the rest of them to continue. I am glad I got to see them as many times as I did.
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It's another cloudy, gray day here but I have been rescued. I have work to do in my flower patch and I am preparing to dig up part of my yard to plant my "Giant Tomato Trees" (as seen on TV). Yes, I ponied up $15 bucks for an add I saw on TV the other night that will allow me to grow GIANT tomatoes. I have the shovel at hand and I am not afraid to use it.
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It looks like my shoulder trouble was more than just that. According to my orthopedic guy, I have a complete tear in the rotator cuff. I will be on the DL for 8-9 MONTHS. Holy schmoley, I can't even grasp not being able to play ball for that long. It has been coming on for awhile but I didn't think it would be this bad. I go in on Wednesday and can't drive for at least ten days afterward. From what I hear, the rehab is painful. Short term disability at work and hopefully, a full lifestyle and basketball about the first of the year. For the next couple of weeks it's all the movies and vicodin I can handle. I type a lot with my right shoulder but I hope to be blogging while buzzed on painkillers > can't wait for that can you?

R I P Danny Federici

Danny Federici, one of the original members of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, died Thursday. He was 58.

The keyboardist passed away at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after battling melanoma for three years, according to a posting on brucespringsteen.net.

His organ-playing can be heard in the classic "Born to Run," the 1975 song that launched Springsteen's career. He also played the organ and glockenspiel in the 1984 hit "Born in the U.S.A."

Robert Hilburn, former pop critic for the Los Angeles Times, said Federici brought a "soulful seasoning" to the band. "Sometimes it felt like the New Jersey shore, where he came from: sometimes bright, sometimes melancholy," Hilburn said.

"Danny was a marvelous musician, but for fans . . . his importance went beyond his keyboard work," Hilburn said. "There has long been a sense of brotherhood and community surrounding the E Street Band and Danny, through his playing and personality, contributed an essential element to that spirit."

Hilburn said of Springsteen's concert last week in Anaheim, "You couldn't help but miss Danny's presence. Without him, the band was not whole."

Federici, who has played with Springsteen since the late 1960s, dropped out of the group's U.S. tour in November to undergo treatment for the skin cancer. He made a special appearance in Indianapolis on March 20.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band began last year its first full-scale U.S. and European tour in four years.

Federici was born in Flemington, N.J., a long car ride from the Jersey shore haunts where he first met kindred musical spirit Springsteen in the late 1960s. The pair often jammed at the Upstage Club in Asbury Park, N.J., a now-defunct after-hours club that hosted the best musicians in the state.

It was Federici, along with original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, who invited Springsteen to join their band.

Federici became a stalwart in the E Street Band as Springsteen rocketed from the boardwalk to international stardom. Springsteen split from E Street in the late '80s, but they reunited for a hugely successful tour in 1999.

The Cuss-O-Meter

Created by OnePlusYou


I'm not sure what that means, but I think I said shit somewhere before, but I am not sure, damn it.

Dr. Sardonicus had a 10.8%
my man brian had a 28% tsk,tsk.

I know there was a fuck in there somewhere, too.

Scott Spiezio

The Cardinals paid you off to the tune of 2 million dollars. You approached The Braves and they took a chance on you with the stipulation that you be sober and "ready to play". You could have made everyone say they were wrong, you could have shown them (and me). You came to the ballpark not "ready to play" and the Braves released you. Get help now. So sad.

Backstage Pass Number 16

I don't remember a thing from this show. I know that about two weeks before the show, I interviewed Paul Rodgers. He was very nice and we had a wonderful time talking about obscure Free songs. Three days before the show (ticket sales were not at expectations) I talk to Jimmy Page live on the air from his hotel room in Dallas. Jimmy f*(king Page. Halfway through the interview, he drops the phone and I can hear background noise, but no Jimmy. Apparently, he passed out or something while talking to me. The running joke for the next forty five minutes was me constantly checking back with Jimmy and him not being there, but hearing people talking and traffic noise in the background. After about 45 minutes, some cat picks up the phone and says hello. I introduce myself and he tells me that Jimmy's "out cold". 4:45 in the afternoon and Page is out. He had a show that night in Dallas. I hope he gave them the best show he could. Might not be saying much.

"...What A Drag It Is To Get Old..."

Evidence A

After over 30 years under the headphones, my hearing is shot. I have tinnitus pretty bad. There is a constant swarm of cicadas around my ears, but of course, there really isn't. I can't hear the coffee maker beep. It hasn't affected my job, I just turn the headphones up louder. Ask anyone who's been in the business in the long term...they can't hear. Certainly, I can hear the phone, the person on the other end of the phone, and can function quite well in the everyday normal world, but the cicadas keep singing till August, when they are for real, but who's to tell?

Evidence B

Of all my body parts, my teeth suck the most. My mom took some kind of thyroid medication when I was inutero and my teeth have paid the price. I still have them (most of them) but now, they are probably going to undergo some kind of highway 40 restoration project (inside joke in St. Louis). The front two are glued in and bonded together (that's another story) and it feels like that we have a problem. Let's hope for the best, but I am very uncomfortable in that chair. My guy knows that if I sit in the chair, I get the gas, and it had better be cranked up. On the dread meter, this is a ten.

Evidence C

After years of hoisting three point bombs on the unsuspecting, helpless, hapless foes of mine (and making a couple), my shoulder's out of whack. I had an MRI on it the other day and I am still awaiting results, but doggone it, this stinks. I think it's a rotator, but I also thought I was an orthopedic surgeon once, then mom woke me for school.

Other than that, clean bill of health. I am blessed.

The Next Sign of the Apocolypse

rain 39 degrees

The headline on CBS news at 1 am last night..."this breaking news, reports from LA say that Britney Spears was involved in a minor traffic accident earlier today. No injuries were reported and police are not she if she was driving or not"...

I have nothing else to add.

From Steve Mays

Steve writes well. I stole this because he is SO right...

from www.smays.com

Bring back the draft
Viet Nam wasn't going well. We needed more "boots on the ground," so they re-instituted the draft on December 1, 1969 with a lottery. Low number, you're on your way to Viet Nam. High number, you okay. My number was 213 (out of 365). The draft was frozen at 195 in December of 1970. I dropped out of law school the next day.
In 1968, we had 536,100 troops in Viet Nam (compared to our 140,000 in Iraq). If we had the draft today, the war in Iraq would be over by the Fourth of July.

My brothers number was 4. He enlisted real soon. If we would have had 500,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan, then Osama would be dead by now; then on to Pakistan. Iraq had nothing to do with this.

Route 66

Had a decent show after getting off to a rough start. It would be like a pitcher who gave up two runs in the first inning but settled down and delivered a win. I felt real good after a fellow employee called and told me how much he enjoyed the fabric of the show. I got a call from some guy in Cedar Rapids who couldn't believe I knew where he was. Hey, it's the second largest city in Iowa, right Jess? He was a fan of me at KSHE and wanted to hear The Doors. Not tonight but, how cool to be listening 250 miles away. What a trip to be responsible for 50,000 watts of holy light and a small part of countless lives, if only for 30 seconds or so, across two thirds of the US.

It was very very cool to play tunes by Buddy Holly, The Four Seasons, Bobby Darin and the like.

See ya next week.

The Dark Knight

The Killing Joke: The book which Heath Ledger was given as research for his role as the Joker. This is not your Adam West Batman. This is not your Jack Nicholson Joker, there is no room for anything other than madness. This is your madman on steriods Batman. Bruce Wayne saw his parents murdered in front of him at an early age. He did not take it well. This comic book is a fast track to the dark side to really try and understand the "Dark Knight" for who he is. Superman is The Beatles, all you need is love. Batman is the Stones, sympathy for the devil.

I.can't.wait.

Heath

Dude!