JohnO

I think Marvin hit the nail on the head with the incentive comment....I think it was very difficult to get Elvis fired up and passionate about his music in the late 60's through the 70's. (Hell, it was probably hard to get him fired up about anything except eating and drugs, I'm guessing...) Colonel Parker never seemed to gave a rat's ass about the quality of his music, provided the records sold. I saw one of his mid-70's Vegas shows, and it was almost a parody of Elvis....it seemed like he was just going through the motions at that point. There's no doubt that he could still bring it if fired up....but getting the fire started was likely a chore and a half...

Giambi was also voted the AL Comeback Player of the Year for 2005. Once he got adjusted to his smaller body, he got his old batting eye back, it seems. (NOTE: There's also the theory that he started doing 'roids again, but I doubt it seriously....)

To me, the pre-Army Elvis was superior to anything he ever did afterwards (ditto Johnny Cash and his Sun period). The early Elvis was the whole package...all he needed was minimal backing instrumentation (Scotty, Bill, DJ) and slightly rearranged old blues or bluegrass songs. While I really enjoy all of his recordings, I agree with the comments about his later need to be able to latch onto the best songs available....and he also needed the best arrangements, backing singers, etc. I also agree that the movie soundtrack stuff is totally killer....BUT, to me, it doesn't get any better than Sun and early RCA Elvis...Just my 2 cents...

All in all, great special effects, but way, way, way too long....especially in light of the fact that the damn projector broke after the first hour where I saw it, and they routed the crowd to a slightly later show, where we had to sit through the entire first hour again (!!!!!- snooze) My girlfriend cried at the end....as I told her -"Look...all she wanted was a commitment of some sort, but NO...all he wanted to do was climb towers, pound on his chest and act Mr. Macho - it never would have worked out!" Now, mind you, at the end, she's hugging Adrien Brody, but it's definitely a rebound type of thing that'll never work out...... The first hour is like watching paint dry..... slowly. Once Kong shows up, it's better, but still way too long. Other holiday flicks - "The Family Stone" is just plain dreadful. "Memoirs of a Geisha" was worse than watching paint dry, but the book was excellent. "Bareback...er, Brokeback Mountain" is actually quite good, provided the overall themes of gay love and cheating on your spouse don't bother you. (This won't play well in the red states.) I don't think Ang Lee is capable of making a bad movie, and this is proof positive. "Walk The Line" is excellent, even if it is over a month old....

In no particular order: - Roky Erickson & The Explosives, SXSW, Austin 9/24/05 (his first show with a band in over 20 years) - New York Dolls - 930 Club, Wash, DC, Aug. 2005 - Plimsouls/Magic Christian - Cafe DuNord, SF, 7/17/05 - Mike Smith Tribute Show, BB Kings, NYC, 8/2/05 (Zombies, Denny Laine, Billy J. Kramer, Fab Faux, and Peter & Gordon (first show in 37 years!) - Oasis/Kasabian, House of Blues, Atlantic City, Oct. 2005 - Gang of Four, 930 Club, Wash, DC, May 2005 - Freddie Krc (Shakin Apostles, Freddie Steady 5, Jerry Jeff Walker's drummer for over 20 years), solo acoustic gig at Eric Sorensen's house, Arlington, VA, 9/16/05; and a 4-way tie, bringing my total to 11: - Raspberries, BB Kings, NYC, 7/23/05; - Raspberries, BB Kings, NYC, 7/24/05; - Raspberries, HOB, Atlantic City, 9/17/05; and - Raspberries, HOB, W. Hollywood, 10/21/05.

Some of the songs are great ("Sleeping With The TV On", "Science Gone Too Far", "Young, Fast & Scientific", etc., although the latter two are the only ones that they ever play anymore), but the production is lousy....and they were just starting to transition over to Handsome Dick as primary lead singer. While I really like parts of it, it's probably their least effort (I won't use the term "worst" when it comes to the 'Tators)? Have you heard Andy's side project Master Plan (with a couple of the Fleshtones) CD or Ross The Boss' side project the Spinatras CD? (I also have an advance copy of a Ross The Boss/T-Bolt Patterson instrumental CD that T-Bolt is shopping around....he refers to it as Ross The Boss' "Jeff Beck album")

I'm leaving from work in 10 minutes.....will be off-line for at least several hours (more if my PC at home's acting up).........

Ahh.. the same Sinead O'Connor who turned Shane into the police back in the late 90's for heroin possession....then Shane tried to sue her for defamation of character for calling him a junkie. Last I heard, she helped nurse him thru an episode where he broke a leg falling (or getting pushed) from a moving car. It's been a real soap opera betwixt those two.....

I'm sorry, Tommy, I was actually trying to work this afternoon.....is it Roxy Music, "Dance Away"?

The Cubs made out like bandits, getting Pierre to replace Patterson......

Yes, Boston could have countered, but, per Damon, in his opinion, they had already given it their best shot, and appeared to be pursuing other centerfielders. He said that the Yankees seemed to be more interested in him than Boston...so he signed with them. Boston management is wringing their hands, claiming that Johnny D. jumped the gun, and gave up on them, yadda, yadda. This sounds like what happened with the Yankees and Andy Pettite 2 years ago. Steinbrenner was out wining and dining Gary Sheffield at the time, and seemingly ignoring AP, so he signed for less money to go home to Houston.

Actually, Clemens left the Sox for the Bluejays. He then signed 2 years later with the Yankees.

Dictators - "Teengenerate"

I started to post the answer, then said - hold on, I don't want it to look like I'm copying Popdude again....and sure enough, he posted! He's too fast for me......

Yeah, Joe S. stepped in for Shane on at least one tour, as well as several shows after he got kicked out of the band. (I think they also used one of the guys from the Specials.) The funny thing was, Spider Stacy, their whistle player, who took over permanently as their lead singer once SM got canned, sounds uncannily like Mr. Strummer. Shane MacG. is an excellent songwriter. His singing is admittedly something of an acquired taste, although I think he's perfect for that band.

Whoda thunk that their latest comeback/reunion shows would be the hottest/most difficult tickets to score? Five of their six scheduled shows sold out in minutes (mostly in venues with 1,000 - 2,500 capacity), and new ones are being added due to the demand. I got tickets for the 2nd 9:30 Club show in Wash,DC, which is actually their first show in the states - March 9th, unless they add an earlier one (first 9:30 Club show that was scheduled is for 3/10; they later added the 3/9 show.). It appears that Mr. MacGowan is down to single digits in teeth (AND % of liver function as well, I'm guessing!) Should be a great bunch of shows!

"Snoopy & The Red Baron" or "Snoopy versus the Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen.........

Please see my comment under "Baseball 2005". As a Yankees fan, I don't particularly want Damon! But at least, he'll have to cut his hair and beard...........

"You're The One" by the Vogues....and written, I believe, by Petula Clark. If I recall, the "yodeling" thing was in the Vogues' other big hit, "Five O'Clock World".

As a long-time Yankee fan, my reaction to their acquiring Damon is - GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....... (Oh well, I eventually got over their getting that sex addict Wade Boggs, and he actually contributed toward a world title, if I recall...) I would have preferred Juan Pierre......... (At least that little b*stard will have to cut his hair & beard!......)

Speaking of Bears....what the Hell happened with Cedric Benson this year??? I know he signed very late, making it close to impossible to start the season high on the depth chart....but I was sure he had enough raw talent to be able to play himself onto the roster as a valuable contributor, if not a starter. Is he perhaps lacking in an area or two? (Example: doesn't block very well, doesn't catch the ball like Thomas Jones, etc.) Anybody know?

The Dictators Go Girl Crazy is definitely on my Desert Island Top 10 list of LPs....sadly, Adny (Andy), HDM & co. never really scaled such heights again.....although Bloodbrothers and the last studio one (DFFD) had their moments, as did the Manitoba's Wild Kingdom effort.

This current Bears team frankly looks a lot more solid than their 13-3 team of 4 or so years ago, the year that Mike Brown singlehandedly won 2 games in OT with interception returns for TDs. It looked to me like Dick Jauron and his team got that record with mirrors. Their offense was middle of the pack (a better passing attack than this year's, with Jim Miller QBing), and their defense was statistically also around the middle of the league. Tney weren't manhandling teams like their defense this year has been doing. Holding the likes of Carolina, ATlanta and even Washington very early in the season to no TDs has been pretty damn impressive. A great defense and bad offense is capable of winning it all, IMO, where a great offense but no defense usually gets eliminated early (Colts of past 4-5 years, for example).

Joe Southe wrote DITB, and had Billy Joe Royal record it as a demo, to give to Gene Pitney, who he wanted to record it. Somehow, Billy Joe's version took on a life of its own. I recall many people thinking that it was Gene Pitney singing it under an assumed name, but I don't think he ever covered it or sang backup on it.

Yes, but take away Sunday's lucky TD, and the Bears still won, 9-3. The kind of luck they've been having this year looks a whole lot to me like the kind the Ravens had in 2000, then the Bucs a couple of years later...and the kind that the Patriots have had for several seasons. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Bears either win it all, or fall flat on their faces in the early playoffs. (I'd rather see the former....but a couple of quick turnovers by their offense, leading to giving up a couple of quick short TDs could end it all for them in a playoff game. While Grossman is an improvement over Orton, I'm still not sure he has what it takes to bring them back from a 10-14 point deficit against a good team.)