Oh shit, oh shit! BEARDFISH North American tour!!!

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beardfish

Best prog band in the business.  Wihtout Zappa and (real) Genesis, Beardfish gets my vote.  These guys deffinitely ‘get it’ and they’re coming to the Tower!!!
USA

21 Jun 2009 13:30  NEARFEST BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania
24 Jul 2009 20:00  Fillmore @ Jackie Gleason Theater MIAMI, Florida
25 Jul 2009 20:00  Rock Hard Live Orlando, Florida
26 Jul 2009 20:00  Ruth Eckard Hall Tampa, Florida
28 Jul 2009 20:00  The Tabernacle Atlanta, Georgia
29 Jul 2009 20:00  Thomas Wolfe Auditorium Ashville, North Carolina
31 Jul 2009 20:00  Tower Theater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1 Aug 2009 20:00  Merriweather Post Washington, Washington
2 Aug 2009 20:00  Bank Of America Pavillion Boston, Massachusetts
4 Aug 2009 20:00  The Palace Theater Albany, New York
5 Aug 2009 20:00  Chevrolet Theater Wallingford, Connecticut
7 Aug 2009 20:00  Convention Hall Asbury Park, New Jersey
-Over to Canada – see below
21 Aug 2009 20:00  The Orpheum Theater Minneapolis, Minnesota
22 Aug 2009 20:00  Riverside Theater Milwaukee, Wisconsin
23 Aug 2009 20:00  Chicago Theater Chigaco, Illinois
25 Aug 2009 20:00  Temple Hoyne Buell Theater Denver, Colorado
27 Aug 2009 20:00  Event Center San Jose, Colorado
28 Aug 2009 20:00  The Joint Las Vegas, Nevada
29 Aug 2009 20:00  GREEK THEATER/PROGRESSIVE NATION 2009 LOS ANGELES, California

Canada

11 Aug 2009 20:00  The Agora Quebec, Quebec
12 Aug 2009 20:00  Ball Center Montreal, Quebec
14 Aug 2009 20:00  Molson Amphitheater Toronto, Ontario
16 Aug 2009 20:00  The Burton Cummings Theater Winnipeg, Manitoba
18 Aug 2009 20:00  MacEwan Hall Calgary, Alberta
19 Aug 2009 20:00  Shaw Conference Center Edmonton, Alberta

Something new and different

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decemberists

Live music is an elixir nonpareil.  Depending on your predilections, you may not want to have it be too loud. You may not want to have to stand for the whole performance.  You may prefer a classical recital in a beautiful and climate-controlled auditorium.  Others like a sweaty mosh-pit.  There are innumerable options in between.  I remember seeing the great Ronnie Earl at a blues festival many years ago – he was sweating bullets; he was getting down!  But the solo was so quiet.  The crowd kept shouting for him to trun it up, but he only put his index finger to his lips as he squeezed his eyes shut and ripped out some of the tastiest riffs this side of Texas.

Anyway, it’s all good.  It cures what ails you and it sustains you and I AM talking about you, because I believe it is true for everyone.  Which brings me to the Decemberists.  I don’t know this band from a hole in the ground, but Em, in her infinite (and serendipitous) wisdom, decided that we should give these folks a listen.  It actually sounds pretty good.  This is thoughtful acoustic pop with a strong prog influence.

So we are pleased to learn that, just as we discover something new to listen to, that same group will be at the Tower Theater on Saturday night.  Tickets – $30, which is more than reasonable, considering what the titans of classic rock tend to charge these days.

And, most importantly, we will be together and listening to live music.  I can only think of a few things in life that could be better.

Charlie Mingus – powerful romantic

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mingus-by-harvey-pekar-193x300

I’ve got plenty of writing to do this morning, writing, proofreading, citating, etc.  Nothing like a deadline to make sure the work gets done.  But just as important is the music.  Mingus is an artist with whom I need to become more conversant.  I’ve heard a little bit here, a little bit there, and it’s all good.  The other magnetising factor drawing me in is the huge influence he had on Zappa.  I can hear it plainy (plus I’ve read about it), but there also that touchy issue of band politics that has fascinated me since I was first in a band in college.  Mingus ran some tight bands.

So that’s what’s on the speakers today, mostly from the 60’s output.  I hear his bands jam with ferocity and then switch back to a romantic swagger.  Picture a late night in New York City circa 1962.  The big black Cadillacs reflect all the glittering lights of the city as they make their way through the Village.  Beatniks mix with couples who are dressed in formal evening attire.  Martinis flow like water and, unlike today, you have to go outside to get away from the cigarette smoke.

On stage, the band sweats through another arrangment and everyone is in a trance as the big man behind the bass conducts the proceedings into the early morning hours.

Jamie Moyer – Lots of Wisdom

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Nationals Phillies Baseball

Yeah, he chalked up his 250th career victory, and that’s great.  But it’s more important that he’s turned things around a bit and can now put the team in a better position to compete and win.  He also dispensed the following pearl of wisdom to John Smallwood in today’s Daily News:

When thing are going right, I try to keep it simple. When things are going wrong, I really try to keep it simple.

That’s also got a lot of application outside baseball, to be sure.

Adobe Air to the rescue

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I find that, more and more, I depend on rss (or Atom, or xml, or whatever) tp deal with the net.  I like for content providers to tell me when they have something to say, and I don’t want to bother with tweets or Facebook.  I wasvery happy with NetNewsWire, a native application that sat in the dock and and showed the number of unread messages as things got updated.  The problem was that there was no way to read news on a mobile device – I had to have the computer.

I set up a ‘Reader’ account through Gmail, but that created two problems.  Firstly, I had to surf over to Reader in order to see what’s new.  Second, between NetNewswire and Google Reader, I was basically getting two notifications for each news item.  When that’s spread over 20+ subscriptions, that’s inbox overload.

Adobe to the rescue.  Adobe Air is a developer tool that lets web apps run on the computer like they would on the iPhone or iPod Touch.  ReadAir required me to download Air from Adobe and then download the reader app.  It works just like the NetNewswire native app, but it syncs with Google Reader – even to the point of delivery settings and folder management.  Plus, it displays the number of unread messages on the ap icon in the dock.  Problem solved.

‘Real Fast’ meets ‘Overdoing It’

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Thursday was everything it was cracked up to be.  Arrive at work for conference call on pasta case at 8:15.  8:30 board PATCO and ride to Camden for 9AM hearing in DiOrio case.  Defendant’s motion denied:  YES!  I’m one for one.  Back on PATCO to get ready for video dep in Bensalem, PA.  Get car from Em at 10:45 and scoot up I-95 to Bensalem.  Dr. Stempler delivers the goods in summary fashion (now I’m two for two!) and I’m out the door and on my way back down to Philly.

Sal is waiting in the lobby so I can switch files and walk five blocks to City Hall to handle the Miller hearing at 1:30.  Client and adversary are both there and we wrap up the negotiations without incident.  Papers get signed and I’m out the door (three for three, but who’s counting).

Back to office for about 45 minutes and then back to City Hall for the Abrantes Case Management Conference.  We get a nice short case management schedule (four for four!) and I make chit chat with my adversary about an old case we worked on together.

And now, with tired feet, and desk piled high, I will prep a play list to go with my evening run and then I’m collecting Em and we’re out of here!

Fun day!  Nothing on the schedule tomorrow.  Maybe I’ll actually get something done.

Overdoing it

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As I contemplate the way in which I over ate tonight (burrito night – too much of a good thing!), I can’t help but reflect on Ms. Lithwick’s observations about how smart people can act stupid. This regularly happens in connection with selecting Supreme Court Justices (and burrito night).

So we can expect a lot of stupidity and histrionics. Something just happens when the bright shining lights of the Judiciary Committee’s fancy chamber come on.  I know that most of those senators like to be on TV.

Me vs. Oscar – A Memorial Day Moment

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This young fellow is going to beat the tar out of me in a few years, but for now, I’ve got his number.  It was great to have company over Memorial Day weekend.  We really got a lot of mileage out of our stoop.  And, even though you can’t see it in the picture, we’ll be drinking Philadelphia Brewing Company’s Fleur de Lehigh for the rest of the summer.

In addition to the above being a nice shot of a toddler trying to squeeze my head off my shoulder, you can also see our phantastic Phillies banner in the front door window.