Current Temperature 

100 degrees and counting

Whew! I have been sweating like crazy. It feels like a fire at a pepper farm. It's hotter than the hinges of hell. Etc. With it this hot, I haven't been doing much outside. I bdid go to the Chattanooga market on Sunday because it was the only day dedicated to Coke memorabilia. My 17 year old likes that a lot. Other than that I watched a restored edition of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and it was super. Apparently this edition that has only been around 2 years has parts in the movie that were never shown in the USA until now. Eli Wallach was great as Tuco and Lee Van (Cleefe?) stared holes into the screen, and Clint Eastwood had it going too.
I found a funny Aimee Mann based website Aimee Mann says baby a lot dot com.

Thoughts on the Buddy Holly Story and Buddy Holly

The Buddy Holly Story


Tonight I watched The Buddy Holly Story again. Gary Busey was brilliant, dead-on, Buddy Holly. What a performance. I prefer this movie to La Bamba and I really like La Bamba. It is hard to believe that anyone ever again could be as innovative as Buddy Holly was. I can see why the Beatles' name was based on Buddy's Crickets. And the songs.......
It's So Easy
That'll Be The Day (Influenced by John Wayne)
Everyday
Rave On
Words
Maybe Baby
Peggy Sue
Not Fade Away
Etc., Etc., Etc.
Buddy could have given us so much more. What would he sound like if he recorded in the 70's?

Door Knob Patrol

From BEEz
and Them
The Ionscan 400B is a machine that analyzes microscopic particles picked up by wiping a sterile cloth across a surface. Police in Utah have been using the machine to go to people's homes, wipe their exterior doorknobs, and then, if illicit drugs show up, use the evidence found to obtain a search warrant.
Check out the sources.

My first Drive-in Experience as an Adult

War of the Worlds


Last night I went to the new Wilderness Outdoor Theater for my first drive-in experience as an adult. It is located about 20 miles from my home and is closer than two other drive-ins that are in Dunlap and Athens, Tennessee.Tn Drive-ins
From. (Nestled in the foothills of Dade County, north Georgia, the outdoor theater is set on 45 landscaped acres surrounded by a beautiful backdrop of mountains. The grounds can accommodate up to 1,000 cars, but you’ll want to bring your lawn chairs or blankets and sit out under the stars. The surround sound system is made up of 16 speakers placed around the hillside theater and the massive movie screen measures in at 50’ x 100’.
“We’re so excited to be able to provide this kind of experience for both the community and visitors to the Chattanooga area,” said Don Marshall, builder and owner. “Not only is it the world’s largest single screen outdoor theater, but where else can you park your car, throw a Frisbee for a little while and then relax and watch a movie? It’s going to be incredible!”The landscape was designed at a slope, rising one foot per every four feet, imitating stadium seating in a movie theater. This ensures that whether you’re sitting in your car, on a blanket, in a lawn chair or on a picnic table, you can still see over everyone without straining your neck.)

Anytime someone says something is the world's largest I am skeptical. For instance, you can win the World's Largest Christmas Stocking at Shoney's, but we have a larger one at home.
Anyway, there is plenty of parking, however if you stay near your car you will need the use of a radio, because the speakers are positioned on the hillside that is behind the parking area and it is hard to hear near the car. We tried sitting in chairs near our car but could not hear the movie. Also, if you listen to the outdoor speakers there is a delay between the picture and sound that you will not experience if you use a radio. The price was right, $5.00 a person. I guess the fact that a building is not present allows for a lower price. I like that. Also, the concessions were cheaper. $2.00 for a large bucket of popcorn. $1.50 for a large coke. $3.00 for a barbecue sandwich. Large candy like boxes of Goobers and Raisinets for $1.00. You can also bring your own. We brought a 12 pack of cokes with us. Smokers will be happy to be able to see a movie and partake if they so desire. Plus you can smooch. Or not. Hopefully they will get a few boring movies. With this indicator I would say that War of the Worlds is a better movie than The Longest Yard. 2 movies for 5 bucks a piece is a good deal.
About the movies:
W.O.W. was true to the original including the quote about God in the end. The aliens looked similar to the first movie just better due to technology. It was interesting that a movie from the 1950's could be re-made virtually unchanged except for the cussing and go over as well as it did. It is worth seeing. Another interesting fact is that a remake of a 1970's movie, The Longest Yard could be so boring. Let's face it, the first L Y was not a work of art, and the remake takes the B movie and turns it into a D movie. But then again if you are at a drive-in with your significant other and no kids that is good news. Don't get me wrong. We were fairly conservative especially compared to the chubby teenager I saw leaving the drive-in holding an undergarment out the window of his car. But then again, he probably brought it with him just for that. A lot of kids were wandering about between the cars. I wouldn't let my kids do that just in case the said undergarments were not a prop.

If you get a chance to go to a drive-in, do it. It will save you money and be a lot of fun.

Does this picture bother anyone else? The Number of a Man(dela) 

Gorsh 

Kids Tuning in to See Disney Get to See the Who Utter the F Word Courtesy of ABC’s Coverage of Live 8

Instead of showing their usual Disney fanfare, ABC hosted a wrap up of the Live 8 concert and instead of showing little more than VJ’s and interviews (like MTV and VH1), they actually showed as many artists as they could doing one song each. They could have showed more artists if they did not break away like the other networks for commercials that felt so out of place during a charity concert. So, why did the network leave the F word in the Who’s Who Are You? Their was no clever marketing around it like the Monday Night Football/ Desperate Housewives cross promotion with Nicolette Sherridan and Terrell Owens. We did not see Goofy laughing, dancing, or giving a clever wink. My theory is that the censor was unfamiliar with the Who and just assumed anybody that old was safe. That is a shame.

And the Winner for Worst Concert Broadcast Ever Goes to…..It’s a Tie! MTV and VH1 Take Home the Honor

Live 8 was billed as the greatest concert ever. It had over 150 artists performing in 8 cities, 9 really when Johannesburg is included. Had the time zone differential had been accounted for, many performances were complete by the time the 12 noon to 8 P.M. American coverage began. So, did MTV and VH1 present different performances on the two networks? No. Instead they combined a VJ from MTV with a VJ from VH1. During the first hour it became clear that the coverage would not focus on the artists or the songs but mainly on the VJs, their opinions, and their interviews with the concertgoers. Only one song, Paul McCartney and Bono’s London opening with their version of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was shown in its entirety. Afterwards viewers were luckiest to see 2/3 of a song. Concert organizer, Bob Geldof’s performance of his Boomtown Rats classic I Don’t Like Mondays was shown for little more than 5 seconds. Mostly one saw VJs asking each other how large they thought the crowd was, talking about how the music being presented this time was balanced fairly because only one rap band, Run DMC was at Live Aid, and there were many more at Live 8 (As far as I know only Tim McGraw performed country although I never saw it), asking crowd members where they were from and why they came (I will give you the answer to the second question at the bottom. Don’t peak until you have made a guess.), and showing a one minute or so montage of who had performed earlier. I am trying to remember which acts I saw near complete or completed songs. Out of the 150+ acts I saw Good Charlotte, Linkin Park, Jay Z, Jay Z and Linkin Park, and Pink Floyd. Viewers tended to only see performances from Philadelphia and London with maybe a two or thre minute clip from one of the other sites each hour. I would have liked to have seen the Barenaked Ladies performance from Canada as well as bands from Italy, France, Russia, and all the other sites. Music could have been going during the entire broadcast. It was great to see Amir (the dude from the VH1 show Bands Reunited?) and his co-host from MTV Europe talk about their love for the Who, join Won’t Get Fooled Again after the intro had started, play 5 minutes of it, talk about the song before it was over, and go to commercials and never return to the Who. Amir particularly seemed embarrassed by it. They talked of the Pink Floyd reunion with Roger Waters and when the performance finally came they had to break away from what was arguably the highlight of the event to go to commercials just as David Gilmore was beginning the guitar solo in Comfortably Numb. Why even have commercials during a charity event. It is funny that ABC’s 2 hour broadcast of highlight performances from the day had more complete songs than MTV and VH1. You would think that if it was truly thought of as the most historic concert ever more interest would be generated by the networks like their coverage of foreign VIPs’ funerals. After all the hunger, disease, and poverty of some parts of Africa is just as important as are the efforts to end the crisis. I guess in the end the arrogance of VH1 and MTV to turn the focus on their VJs and less on the performers or their cause is atrocious and deserving of the award for worst concert broadcast.

answer: the concert

Pink Floyd to reunite with Roger Waters at today's Live 8

Pink Floyd


Paul McCartney and U2's Bono rocked London's Hyde Park with a rousing performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" on Saturday to kick off the main event in the Live 8 extravaganza rolling around the globe.
Harvey Goldsmith, one of the Live 8 organizers, said he was determined the show, featuring 25 acts including U2, Madonna, REM, Carey, Coldplay and Pink Floyd, would go like clockwork.
"We have clocks everywhere and our message to all the artists is, we don't care what time you go on, we just care about what time you come off," he said.
"We have to be as time-precise as possible, particularly with all the international links going on. We just ask everybody to play ball."
Organizers say 2 million people may attend the concerts and claim 85 percent of the world's population will have access to a television, radio or Internet broadcast of the day's events. A complex broadcasting operation will feed footage of the concerts to networks including the British Broadcasting Corp. -- which is devoting more than 12 hours on its main TV channels to the event -- and MTV.
The lineups are eclectic: Destiny's Child, The Dave Matthews Band, Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, P. Diddy and Jay-Z in Philadelphia; Brian Wilson, Chris de Burgh and Green Day in Berlin; Neil Young, Bryan Adams and Motley Crue in Barrie, north of Toronto; McFly in Tokyo; the Pet Shop Boys in Moscow; Goth-rockers The Cure and Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour in Paris, France.
The artists, playing for free, are heeding Geldof's call to urge world leaders to double aid, cancel debt and rework unfair trade laws to lift African nations out of poverty.
More at CNN.
The long desired reunion of Roger Waters and Pink Floyd is an event that rivals the dreams that Beatle fans so wanted until the passing of John Lennon. The American broadcast of Live 8 begins at noon eastern on MTV. Official Live 8 Site.

R & B Legend Luther Vandross Dead at 54

Luther Vandross performing a tribute to George Harrison at the American Music Awards in 2002


Luther Vandross was a master of soulful, heartfelt ballads that topped the R & B charts. Many are unaware that Luther sang background vocals on David Bowie's Young American album and opened for him on the subsequent tour. Luther was rejected by the powers that be (music labels) and funded his own album of his unique blend of R & B. 2 million copies later the doors were opened. Luther was signed and kept his personal integrity.

By the end of the 1980s Vandross had nearly two dozen smash singles, including "Give Me the Reason," "Stop to Love" and "There's Nothing Better Than Love," made with Gregory Hines. Arguably his most memorable hit was the 1989 classic, "Here and Now," which has become a wedding staple.
The momentum carried into the 1990s, with Vandross recording "The Best Things In Life Are Free," a pop duet with Janet Jackson that hit the Top 10 and No. 1 on the R&B charts.
He followed that in 1994 with "Endless Love," a duet with Mariah Carey that reached No. 2 on the pop charts.
"I was Luther from day one, from the day I began, and I think that's a very important thing," he once said. "I think that's what sustained my career for so long is that when I start, you know it's me."
Vandross struggled with health and image problems, claiming that he lost 100 pounds -- 13 times. He suffered from hypertension and diabetes, which killed two siblings and his father, but refused to slow down until his stroke two years ago.
Of "Dance With My Father," he once said that title song "was very emotional for me and, yes, it is based on my own experience.
"It's not just about losing one's father, but about missing someone who is gone -- for whatever reason -- and the longing you feel for that moment in the past when you were together," he said.
More at CNN.

I hope Luther is dancing with his father now.