drbirdsong

Looking forward to the end. It's been... Ok. Jessica Lange is still the bee's knees. I'm hoping for a fun finale and a better story next time.

Hurm... Ah, erm... Da wife she ask me to dee vee arrrrrrr it an' I comply. De brain she is reelin' from da stink. Maybe next year we get da real mulishion on der. Or maybe nought.

All I'm saying is that if they announce it then they ought to mean it. The f***ing Who "retired" in the early 80s and we all know how that turned out. It will suck. I will still have all their music to listen to if I want to. One day I will die and my kids will either throw all my stuff away or sell it. At that point I won't need it anyway.

I love the Brittany Spears comparison. If the two of them were running from a bear we know who would get eaten and who would live to write about it. Maybe he runs so fast after the gig because his adrenaline is pumped way the eff up after a show. If I could play like that for three hours I would jump up and bounce off the ceiling a slap a few bitches on my way to the bus all the while demanding they kNEIL down before me in adulation.

Sir Paul, fer shure.

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/drbirdsong/BobGuitar.jpg I wanted to share this photo of my wife's step-father Bob. He passed away a few days ago after a two decade fight with cancer. He was a tough SOB and when I asked him if he knew any Rush licks he belted out the opening of Working Man like he had been playing it all his life. Rest in peace, man, your fight is finished.

I'm listening to the Sector 3 Marathon right now and you are all kinds of right in your assessment. Geddy's bass is borderline funny on the 90s remasters compared to this. The Sector sets are not the best thing in the world when compared to vinyl, but nothing really is among the TOO MANY remasters and re-releases of the catalog, but for digital versions the Sector sets are the ones I go to. I have the HDtracks so that may make a difference. For easy and quick listening on the computer or in the car and on my phone those versions rule. I've said it before and I'll say it again, nothing beats the MFSL version of Permanent Waves. The vinyl is damn good, but that disc is so good it makes dogs cry. I thought the 90s remasters sounded great at the time. They were loud and clear and the sound was all at about the same level. This was after years of listening on cassette so the clarity and lack of hiss was very welcome, but after the Sector sets came out those might as well be coasters.

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/drbirdsong/Frankie01.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/drbirdsong/Frankie02.jpg Frankie showing off his carpet swimming skills. I love this big fat sweet dummy, but he is the last cat I will ever own. They are way too messy and after getting two Yorkies that don't shed at all I now know the way to go.

Happy New Year from Nashville, TN. I had to use last year's picture, but you get the idea. Show yo town off Rushians. http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/drbirdsong/Nashworks.jpg

This is about the only one I can stand and it's an old song. As for the new stuff my wife loves Trans Siberian Orchestra and I keep taking her to the shows and they can play really well and the show is quite entertaining, but thank God they are taking a break after fifteen years because I am way burnt out on them.

The first single on CD would be really nice. If anyone in the Rush camp is paying attention I would just like to say: IF YOU ARE GOING TO INCLUDE ANY LIVE TRACKS MAKE IT THE WHOLE FRIGGIN' SHOW AND DON'T TEASE US WITH JUST A COUPLE OF LIVE TRACKS LIKE YOU DID ON THE RECENT 2112 RELEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, rant over

I saw them for the first time on the Signals tour and after the show there was some bitching that they didn't play enough old stuff. I guess one man's prime is another man's over the hill. I recall a great performance, plenty of old songs, a wailing Geddy, a massive-ground-shaking drum solo and guitar to die for. It was really something and I have never stopped paying attention. 1979 to present for me and it is all prime.

He was recognized by a waiter, but the guy didn't let on he knew who he was and left a nice note with the bill. Neil mentioned that he left a generous tip. Knowing what we all know from this forum I would probably leave him alone, but I did meet Alex at the rehearsal venue here in Nashville right before R30. I didn't let on that I knew who he was and was introduced by the manager of the venue. The manager was a little fannish, but it turned out to be a good fifteen minute or so conversation. I was working on a trade brochure for the facility (something used to send out to prospective users of the space) and Alex was politely interested and what a nice guy. At the end we shook hands and I said I was looking forward to the show and I was glad they had chosen Nashville to kick off the tour. He gave me a "thanks-for-not-being-a-crazy-fanboy" smile and that was that. I think as long as you are calm and collected and not screaming praise at them most famous folks in any genre are cool with that.

I remember the exact day I watched Videodrome back in 2010. Really good movie - strange, scary and dated in perfect amounts! If there's a remake in the works, I can only hope it does justice to the original. http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/drbirdsong/AddictDrome.jpg Found the posters this morning. It turns out The Addiction was directed by Abel Ferrara who is also responsible for "4:44 Last Day On Earth" = Horrible and "Bad Lieutenant" = Not Horrible, but saved only by Harvey Keitel's performance and several other darker movies like "The King Of New York" and apparently some soft porn in his early days. I think Videodrome could be turned into something awesome in the digital age. It is a movie that could actually be updated for our modern times and be just as disturbing as the original. And it's spelled "Cronenberg". There, caught up and now I'm going to make Clockwork Angels Tour my final movie watched for the year. Might as well go out on a high note.

When Vin Diesel had hair.

Cocteau Twins. I have all of it and that lead me to the 4AD bands. It's a whole new world of music to explore.

This and other shows take far too many/too long breaks. It's a fast world and they all can't be The Walking Dead so get it in gear already. Start it and go to the end or lose viewers.

Ben digging K&P since they were on MadTV. Too funny with the football names.

ADDICTION 1995 from Russell Simmons. I didn't know what to expect from him because when I hear the name I always think BET, but it was an interesting modern take on the vampire genre. And not a teenager in sight. Cool cast and quite flawed, but the fact it was in black and white helped to smooth over the awkward bits. Actually I'm not sure Simmons directed or produced or both and I'm in bed and too lazy to look it up. Couldn't sleep so went on to VIDEODROME from 1983 by David Cronenburg. Aye God that man can disturb, especially in his early ones. It has that early 80s sheen that makes it look dated, but it is quite prophetic. I read that someone got the rights to remake it. If done right it could be the feel horrified movie of the year.

"I've got a pole with a capital O." - Catalina Caper MST3K is one of the awesome reasons television was created.

Christmas in North Korea

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/drbirdsong/msnbc-cast-portraits.jpg See that slogan? They REALLY mean it.

damn, I wish the people around me had reacted like that to the new tunes. I have a feeling that different people just perceive/describe similar crowd reactions in different ways. What one guy speaks of as "on their feet and yelling" would likely be called "polite applause" by another. While I'm sure there were exceptions, videos and most testimonials seem to indicate that reactions weren't a heck of a lot different from one arena to another. I attend a church each week that caters to a core group of attendees and a bunch of tourists (radio broadcasts all over the world bring them in). I have enough experience to judge a crowd and yeah one man's "polite clapping" is another's "on their feet", but the new songs on this tour got the crowd more excited than any band that has lasted this long that I have ever seen. The last time I saw Yes the crowd hit the beer and toilet line as soon as "Fly From Here" started. Rush kept their feet nailed to the floor with the Clockwork Angels songs. I'm sure the strings played a part in that. it was an exciting new element. Looking back at it now I feel the same. The new songs, especially Headlong Flight got a lot of folks happier than the 80s songs.

Somewhere Roger Dean is contemplating suicide for the sole purpose of rolling over in his grave.

I saw several shows on this tour. It was the first time I was able to get to see five shows of any tour by anybody. Headlong Flight got the biggest crowd reaction by far of any song on this tour. The old favorites like The Spirit Of Radio or Tom Sawyer always get big loud crowd yells, but the Clockwork Angels songs floored the audience at every show and the title track and Headlong Flight got them to their feet and yelling every time. You often expect a long running act to pull out a new song or two, but Rush played most of their latest album and blew the crowd away. You could feel it coming off the bodies all over the place: Holy Cow, new music and it's this good? Yes it is, I thought each time I saw them go crazy for the new songs.