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Saturday, October 05, 2002 |
Saying Hi to Garth
The other night I got to do something that's a rare experience. I got to shake hands and talk briefly with a musician who I have appreciated for more than half my life and tell him thanks. I've been listening to Garth Hudson, keyboardist for The Band. He was very gracious and appreciative during a short conversation, and I sure am happy I got to do that.
I first listened to The Band when Music from Big Pink came out when I was 15. His organ work in Chest Fever was my first introduction to his lunacy. Over the years, there are many entries in my "Garth's Greatest Hits" list. The live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" first, and then later other bootlegs of Dylan's 66 tour (and later still the "Live 66" official release of some of this); Garth's organ is a key part in the wall of noise that Bob and the Band made. Garth in The Basement Tapes was attuned to Dylan, I think, as no other musicians ever have been -- particularly on "Sign on the Cross." Garth's work in "King Harvest" on The Band's second album. Most of "Northern Lights/Southern Cross" is Garth. Garth's playing on the "Rock of Ages" live album is unforgettable. The list goes on and on...
It was a nice moment for me, and I think it wasn't too bad a moment for Garth, too.
(Not to Mark Gold: no, that wasn't Garth Brooks.)
10:10:25 PM Permalink
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Big disappointment at Pacbell Park today. If the Giants had won today, I could have been there tomorrow to see them maybe win this round of the National League playoffs. As it is, either they'll win in which case they still might not win the playoffs, or they'll lose (again) in the wild card round of the playoffs. Still, Pacbell is a lot of fun, and it should be exciting. If they win.
10:00:32 PM Permalink
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Brawling With Barbra Online. The Internet is a terrific place to have a brawl, at least if you want a crowd. Post, riposte, with a potential audience of millions. By John Schwartz. [New York Times: Technology]
Barbara Streisand gets caught by Matt Drudge in a letter with misspellings and passing spurious Shakespeare quotes that are easy to research. Streisand replies that it's the old right-wing trick of using sneering and half-truths to hide the real issues. They're both right.
9:57:33 PM Permalink
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The Metaphor Rant
Jeremy Bowers rights a nice rant about the misuse of metaphors in debate. He makes the great point that they more often obscure than illuminate, and have no place in debate:
Metaphors are the spice of great literature, and formalized debating. But they have no place in real-world debates, and are at best highly suspect, even in the more limited role of explanation.
Recommended.
11:24:57 AM Permalink
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The Grand Complication by Allen Kurzweil
I read this book a few weeks ago. It's the story of Alexander Short who's a reference librarian in New York. He has unusual interests (in small, elaborate containers) and one day a library patron passes him a request that is of special interest to him. He gets sucked into the clients quest for the "grand complication," a watch supposedly made for Marie Antoinette, and stolen some years before in Jerusalem. The story follows his search, and the destructive effect it has on his relationship with his wife (strange to me; she's much more interesting than his client and the search). Interesting story, well-written though without special flair that I could see, and an ending that wasn't especially reveletory. Still, in a day when too you lose yourself in the generic mystery, where you can't tell one from another, this one was fresh.
11:00:01 AM Permalink
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Less Competition
Scott Abel sends this along:
"My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds
of people: those who work and those who take the
credit. He told me to try to be in the first group;
there was less competition there."
- Indira Gandhi
10:39:58 AM Permalink
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Bob plays Piano
Well! Dylan's tour started last night in Seattle. Lots of really exciting stuff in the setlist. Some Warren Zevon and Rolling Stones covers, but Bob also played piano for the first time in concert in well over a decade. Hope he keeps it up; I've always loved his piano playing. A memorable moment for me was seeing him play piano on Ballad of a Thin Man at the 1974 afternoon concert in Seattle.
10:31:52 AM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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