Video of the week - Betcha can't do this

"Oops"

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57321982-503544/rick-perry-fails-to-remember-what-agency-hed-get-rid-of-in-gop-debate/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

If you have not seen it yet, click on the link above to see Rick Perry self destruct during the debate earlier today. 

La Quinta Daytona

Above are pictures from the La Quinta at Daytona.  It was originally another hotel/motel that is about 30 years old and was purchased by the current owner who got a La Quinta Franchise so it is not completley similar to most La Quintas as far as facilities.   It has the mexican clay roof, good sized rooms, a heated pool, and a great view of the ocean. 

Gopher Tortoise

Above is a picture of a Gopher Tortoise taken at Ponce Inlet which is about 9 miles or so north of Daytona.   They have a nice park there with a pier, a beach, and we also saw some dolphins in the inlet.  The turtle was eating lunch and not too concerned about much else.

Atlantic

Above is a picture I took looking straight out into the Atlantic on Daytona Beach.   There was a good breeze but the air was envigorating.   The ocean produces some good breathing air and I was really feeling it here. 

Venice Florida

I don't know if I took any pictures at Venice.  Maybe I have some I took with my phone.  I will add them later if I find them.   We spend a couple of days at Venice and it was very nice.  Again the weather was just about perfect and the beach was great.  It is a little farther south so we were able to take a dip in the ocean.   It couldn't have been more relaxing.  Whenever it got a little warm, I would just plunk in the ocean for a little bit and splash around.   We had to walk a little bit to get to a quieter section of the beach but we still ended up chatting with several really nice folks who strolled by.  Everybody seemed to be high on the fresh air.  On the way back from the beach one  day, we stopped to pick up a sandwich at the KT deli at 454 E. Venice Ave.  When I went in I met Toan, the owner and his wife who's name I don't remember but she had a very cute personality.  Toan did most of the talking but his wife would smile and also make comments that didn't agree 100% with Toan.  Toan offered me some home made eggrolls to sample and I asked him what else he recommended.  I ended up getting a french vietnamese sandwich and some eggrolls.  This is the place to grab a sandwich in Venice.  He told me he recently updated the menu to include homemade eggrolls and other vietnamese choices but a lady who was in there getting lunch told me that the Cuban press sandwiches were good also.   Toan also told me where to get the best vietnamese buffet food here in Houston at our local chinatown.   I am going to check it out and will update the blog when I do.

Roses are red, the sky is blue...

Above is a picture from when I was sitting at the campsite one day at O'Leno.   I was sitting there relaxing and the sky really looked blue and beautiful so I clicked a picture of it.   This was perfect weather for camping.  No misquitos or humidity.  A little too cool in the evening but we had a fire so it was about as good as it gets.

Destin Florida & Grayton Beach State Park

We stayed one night at Grayton Beach State Park.  When I looked online at the specific picture of the campsite that I reserved also online, it looked very private because it appeared to be fenced in by vegitation and trees.   However, when we arrived, there was a campsite directly behind it that bordered the back of our site.  There was a clear view if thier RV which was facing us, a fire burning, and also a loud radio playing Southern Rock.   I have no problem with Nascar and Nascar fans.  I enjoy a good Nascar race myself.  Still,  A nascar party was not what I imagined when I booked this campsite.  We went to the forest ranger and the moved us to another site but it was till pretty close to the nieghbors.  Also there were trails all around our campsite that lead to the the restroom shower area so people were walking by at all times of the night with flashlights.  There was also a neigbor who treated us to several hours of classic rock.  We could clearly hear the conversations from two of the nearby campsites.  Grayton Beach Park is a nice place as far as the beach and park area but the camping experience is more of a place to stay or somewhere you would want to have an RV.  Not good for tent camping.    In the middle of the night I was dreaming along and I woke up into a sleepy haze hearing animals walking around our tent and then thrashing around on our picnic table.  I thought I had put all food items in the car's trunk but I left a lunchbox and a can of nuts out.  As I looked out the window, it looked like there were two bears trying to claw my lunch box open.  I was half asleep and I was thinking to myself, "are there black bears in florida?".   Then I woke up a little bit and realized that it was two very large and fat racoons who must have gotten that way by eating well from what they stole from campsites.   I shined a flashlight at them and they marauded off to pillage the next campsite.


The next day we cut this particular venture short went over to Destin and checked in to a Motel 6.  It was as sparse as most motel 6's but this one had a kitchenette and the room was actually pretty large compared to any Motel 6 room I had seen before.

Below are a couple of photos I took when we were eating lunch under a public Gazebo.   I should have clicked a few more but I was busy enjoying the really beautiful beach.   It was perfect weather.   This part of our trip was actually the day before we camped O'Leno which I have already posted pictures of in the previous post.

National Lampoon Vacation

Above is a picture of our outdoor hotel for our recent visit to O'Leno State Park in Florida.   Florida has a great state park system.  Very well organized and all facilies are well maintained.   The campsites are set up for RV and also Tent with some being tent only.   Most have electrical and water at each individual site.

O'Leno has an interesting history.   Originally it was a town called "Keno" after the gambling game but back in the 1800s  it was change to "Leno" because of pressure from religious elements and also business people that didn't want to offend anybody.   Then when the railroad was built,  it passed by Leno and it became a ghost town.  Later on in the 1930s, the forestry department made a state forest out of it and it was referred to as "Old Leno" and is now called O'leno.   Within  the boundaries of the park, the Santa Fe River goes underground and resurfaces down the line.  They have an amazing system of hiking trails and I took a few pictures which are posted below:

Above you can see some of the palm tree type shrubs that are all over the are and concentrated in this particular area where I snapped th photo.  I imagine that there was some clearing done and the palm shrubs took over. 

Below is a picture of a suspension bridge build back in the 30s:

If you are ever in northern central florida I would highly recommend a visit to this park.  Camping is $18 and a day visit is $5 per car.  They have hiking and biking trails as well as plenty of fishing and also swimming area.   Be careful not to swim in the wrong place or you might come across a gator. For more info, check out the Florida State Parks web site which is very good.

big easy

The French Quarter is alive and well.   Below are a couple of pictures I took during a recent daytime visit.   It was a good time which was made even better by the guy who works the door and seats people at the Royal Cafe.  We were walking by about 11 am and he was hawking the passerby's with an invitation to eat blackened chicken, shrimp creole, etc and he also hawked out that our dog was welcome.  We had a dog stroller and thought it was funny.  When  we got hungry we decided to take him up on the invitation.  The guy loves his job.  He made sure we felt right at home and sat us at a table with an open air street side view where we could watch the goings on and interesting people.  No matter what you look like or how you dress, you will not feel out of place at the French Quarter.  Give em a visit and enjoy yourself while supporting some great culture.

R

Time for a Party

I think it is great that people have the opportunity to voice thier opinions and participate in peaceful protests.   However, I do think it is a good idea to know exactly what it is that you are protesting about.   In the "Occupy Wall Street" movement the participants are saying that they are fed up but it isn't really clear what they want "Wall Street" to do.   Are they wanting to shut down the stock market and the banking system and possibly bring in a new group of capitolists who are not driven by greed?   It just doesn't work that way. 

The problem is that if they got rid of every member of "Wall Street", there are plenty more who will come in and do whatever it is they can get away with.  AIG, Enron, and every other type of scandal or fraud will repeat itself as long as people can get away with it.  That is just the nature of people. 

The solution isn't to ask the players to start playing nice.  The answer is in the officiating.  Washington, and the state legislatures, should be the primary focus.  As long as people put up with a system where elected officials can be paid off without concequence, then they will continue to get the kickbacks.  People do need to take to the streets.  Particularly on Tuesday in early November.   We need to elect representatives who are not part of the current two party system because it is broken. 

The time is right for a real third party that is not just the extremists from an existing party like the "Tea Party".   Thier answer is to "revolt"  and be hard core Republicans.   We need a true "Tea Party", one that doesn't just hi-jack the name but actually represents something different which is honest representation.  It is time that American Citizens have more representation than multi-national corporations.

Basically, it is time for America to be America.

Einstein & Twyman: "I done told you so already"

A few weeks back it was reported in the news that scientists had clocked nutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light.   This is a finding that would imply that time travel was theoretically possible and was also at odds with the theory of relativity according to our boy Albert Einstien.  Now it comes out that they likely did not account for the rotation of the earth (relativity) and the movement of the tracking device in relation to the earth.

I have already explained here on the one man web log that time travel is not possible and will never happen.  If it was ever going to happen, it would have already happened in the future and we would know about it here in the past which is at this precise moment the present.

Albert explained it as follows:   E=MC2

I explained it here on the one man web log a few months back: http://marctwyman.blogspot.com/2011/07/science-cathes-up-to-one-man-web-log.html

Read more about it here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2394747,00.asp#fbid=OA9BZlZhNOI

Taxmasters - News story from the internet today

(picture from ABC news story referenced below)

http://goingconcern.com/2011/10/will-jk-harris-and-taxmasters-join-the-tax-lady-in-the-late-night-tax-problem-solver-body-count/


Below is an op-ed from the above link:


Will JK Harris and TaxMasters Join the Tax Lady in the Late-Night-Tax-Problem-Solver Body Count? By Joe Kristan

 

“Pennies on the dollar” may be a great pitch on cable television, but it’s not a surefire business plan. Desperate taxpayers who have paid money up front to JK Harris to resolve their tax debts at a discount are joining the IRS as potential “pennies on the dollar” creditors now that this leader in the tax settlement industry is filing for bankruptcy protection.
This is the second major blow this year to cable TV ad revenues. Earlier this year “Tax Lady” Roni Deutch gave up her law license in the face of charges that she took fees up front to resolve tax debts and failed to follow through.
Tax nerds see the late night ads when we get home and wonder how these outfits manage to get such great deals out of the IRS when getting the Service to actually forgive tax debts is like pulling teeth from a grumpy rhino for the rest of us.

TaxMasters now stands as the biggest remaining player in the TV tax settlement business, but they have their own problems. They were de-listed last month from the OTC Bulletin Board to the pink sheets for failing to file their 10-Q due August 15. The last reported trade for Taxs.pk is at 13 cents. They have also been sued by the Minnesota Attorney General for allegedly deceptive practices. ABC News reported on the suit:

The Minnesota attorney general says many of the company’s employees are skilled tele-marketers who have little knowledge of the complicated tax issues faced by people who have fallen behind in filing their returns or making tax payments. “When you call, you think you’re talking to a tax professional,” said Swanson. “You’re really talking to just a salesperson who’s trying to get you to sign up.”

So maybe the secret is that the late night settlement outfits are staffed by telemarketers who just happen to be awesome at selling pennies-on-the-dollar deals to the IRS. If that’s true, though, they seem to be having a lot of trouble turning what would truly be a remarkable and valuable skill into profits.

Texas Toast

Here in Texas, our boy Rick Perry decided that he was going to save the country.   Lucky for the rest of the country they are not as embedded in political ideology as rural Texans.   Little things like kickbacks and extreme opinions kind of get in the way when it comes to getting elected at the big time level. 

The truth is that in Texas the lieutenant governor actually more important when it comes to legislation. 

The problem with Perry is that he wants to continue a "war on science" by teaching sunday school in science class.   I don't have a problem with global warming skeptics that are scientists.  However when a pure ideolog oposes the concept of global warming just because he is supposed to, that is like attacking Christopher Columbus because the earth is not flat.  

The bottom line is that Rick Perry is a phoney.   Anybody who supports him is willfully ignorant.

Texas had many great things to offer and Rick is just not one of them.

and then there was one

There used to be 4 major players in the "Tax Resolution" business.

First it was American Tax Relief -  shut down by the FTC

Then it was Roni Lynn Deutch  -  finished off by the state of California

and now JK Harris is filing bankruptcy to get out of hot water:
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/oct/07/jk-harris-to-file-for-bankruptcy/

There definitely seems to be more to the story but either way,  karma is a bitch.

Little Woman So Sweet

Hey You!

I just posted a video on Youtube if you wanna see it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MarcTwyman#p/u/0/2LQrp_t6480


It is me playing a Blind Boy Fuller Tune on acoustic guitar.

night night

What now?

This guy is done.

brother can you spare a dime?

Well it looks like the politicians just wasted some more of our money. S&P Just downgraded the USA to less thatn a AAA credit rating for the first time ever and in doing so they cited political brinksmanship that made the risk unpredictable. If the elected officials had not put thier party and ideology before country, we could have saved some money. The Tea Party happened a long time ago and it should be off limits for anyone to use it as a title for thier organization just like it is telling when someone claims to have God on thier side or hi-jack the American Flag.


So from the One Man Web log to all the ideologs: Up Yours!

Fear and Cowardice

I was watching a movie online just now, one of the hanibal lector ones called Red Dragon. It struck me when Hanibal told the young retired detective that he had fear but was not a coward.

It made me think. Most poeple may have already thought about it but it isn't possible to be brave if there is no fear. Bravery, or the lack of cowardice, is only applicable if there is an element of fear. The reason our founding fathers were so great is because they were facing a situation where they would have been crazy not to have fear at some level. They stood up to the English powers and if the revolution failed, they would have surely been shot or hanged.

The latest fiasco from our current round of elected representatives was in my opinion cowardly. Nobody wanted to step away from worrying about what their particular group of supporters would think and they all just behaved predictably. Sickening stuff.

OK, it is now back to the movie.

Nanu Nunu

Science Cathes up to One Man Web Log

OK, Here is a story from todays news:

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/07/25/time-travel-is-impossible-scientists-say/

The headline is "Time Travel is Impossible, Scientists Say"

And here is a quote from the story:

By proving that even a single photon must obey Einstein's theory that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, Hong Kong physicists believe they have debunked the idea of time travel once and for all.

A Hong Kong University of Science and Technology research team led by Du Shengwang said they had proved that a single photon, or unit of light, "obeys the traffic law of the universe."

"Einstein claimed that the speed of light was the traffic law of the universe or in simple language, nothing can travel faster than light," the university said on its website.

"Professor Du's study demonstrates that a single photon, the fundamental quanta of light, also obeys the traffic law of the universe just like classical EM (electromagnetic) waves."


Now here are some quotes from One Man Web Log entries that pre-date the "scientific breakthrough" :

http://marctwyman.blogspot.com/2010/05/to-hawk-or-not-to-hawk.html
I can't go into it with mathematical equations but I don't think warp speed is physically plauseable.

http://marctwyman.blogspot.com/2010/05/scientific-breaktrhrough.html
I was driving through the U-Turn at Gessner and Katy Freeway and maybe it was the G-force of approximatley 1.009 Gs that gave me the proper frame of mind to come to the indisputable conclusion that time travel will never be possible. No matter how advanced human technology advances it will never happen...

http://marctwyman.blogspot.com/2011/01/time-and-space-travel.html
As far as time travel goes a trip down "memory lane" is about as real as it is going to get. At least considering the parameters of the physical universe as we know it.

Is the Chili good here?

The other day we went to Chili's and I decided to try the chili. I asked the waiter if it was good and he kind of laughed but he said it was. I thought it was OK and I figure that it is a good represention of what it is supposed to be which is a Terlingua style chile. However, It is a little bit more chili tasting that I prefer. Not necessarily too spicey but too much of a chili (chili powder) taste which I understand would be correct as far a what folks would expect.

Last night I decided to make a batch in the crockpot my ownself. I used about a half a bag or so of red beans (dried), a couple of cans of diced tomatoes, a can of chili paste, a container of sodium free free range chicken broth, about 6 or 7 fresh jalapino peppers (seeds removed), a good amount of ground turkey meat, a couple of good sized white onions, a bell pepper, about a half a batch of celantro (chopped) and a bout 8 celery stalks chopped. I also added a good bit of chili powder, some garlic powder, some onion powder, some Mrs Dash, a little black pepper & I think that was about it. I rinsed off the read beans added all the ingredients. I cooked the turkey meat with some chopped onion in a large skillet and then added it also. I let it cook on the lower of the two crock pot settings and I tasted it this morning and added a little bit more chili powder. I was thinking about cheating a little bit and adding some Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce but I decided against it. It came out pretty good. It isn't the purist's chili but it is something I can eat for several days in row and not get overpowered. I had some tonight with som brown rice and it tasted pretty good. If a person wanted to get really serious about it, they could add some of the peppers in stages but it has just enough kick for me but more importantly a good flavor. To me it is just hard to go wrong with a crock pot. You just throw a bunch of stuff in there and about 8 hours later, it ususally tastses pretty good.

Casey Anthony

I sympathize with the jury because they had to find that beyond a reasonable doubt that the mom killed the kid. The prosecution did not have an official cause of death and without that it is hard to convict someone of murder. As far as I am concerned, if the public is going to be mad about the results, they should be mad at the prosecution for going forward with a case without enough evidence to convict. They should have either waited until they had the evidence needed for the murder conviction or they should have charged her with a different crime. Maybe endangerment of a child or child abuse. Florida seems to have a history of going after people without proper evidence. Janet Reno did it and got famous in the process. It turned out she was creating evidence through hypnosis that did not stand the test of time.

The "Tax Lady" is done

Check out this video of Roni Lynn Deutch apparantly blaming the state bar of California for the mess she is in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmajIcRShL8


Yesterday she plead "not guilty" to contempt of court:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=18579082&postID=5831369971147613124


American Tax Relief, Another of the 4 major players among the "Tax Resolution" companies, was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/1023083/101109atrpi.pdf


It was a state attorney general lawsuit that was the first domino in bringing down Roni Lynn Deutch and just last month the State of Tennessee won its case against another of the 4 major players in the "industry", JK Harris. This is was not the only state level AG action that has focused on JK Harris.

http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/233089-tennessee-wins-case-against-jk-harris

The Solution?

The country is in deep do do financially and the legislative answer from both sides seems to be a nice pork sandwich. I am thinking maybe we should be having a salad. Or maybe a nice healthy bowl of soup.

There was a deal

There is no question that there was some sort of deal. Osama was holed up in a mansion not far from Islamabad. No way that the Pakistani intel folks were not clued in. They have been playing both sides all along.

Either way. It is a great moment for America.

Tauelangi Angilau

We just got back from our two-day Galveston mini-vacation. We stayed at the LaQuinta on East Beach and Kathy, the manager who works nights, took great care of us. We got a good deal on a suite so we had plenty of room and an ocean view. Luckily for us, weekdays are still not booking up like they will be once things heat up a litttle but overall Galveston looks like it has come back pretty well. As far as the Seawall, Murdocks was the only place to rebuild over the water. The fairly new Hooters restaruant was washed away and never returned and of course the Balinese is still gone also. One thing that struck me when driving down Seawall Blvd. after dark is that too many of the street lights are out and also they need a little more lighting along the sidewalk. Even if just for a several blocks or so just to create a little better place to take a stroll in the evenings.

I brought my laptop along so I felt like I had jettisoned into the current century when I was able to look at Denny's Menu online to call in my order one morning. Of course Denny's was close enough to see from our window but it was still convenient. I guess most places offer free wi-fi but it was something I had never taken advantage of before. LaQuinta does provide a breakfast with choices of Belgian Waffles from the waffle machines, orange juice, coffee, yogurts, cold and hot cerials, as well as a selection of muffins and also bread that could be toasted.

We spent about a half a day at the beach just relaxing. I set up a couple of umbrellas and a pen for my dogs so we were pretty well prepared. There was a bit of a cool breeze but the water was actually comfortably warm. That reminds me; I still need to wash and vacuum the car.

A bit of sad news also. Hurricane Ike claimed one more victim during our stay in Galveston. A 65 year old man from Utah named Tauelangi Angilau was killed during the demolition of the Flagship Hotel which was damaged by the water and waves during the storm.

The Blues

The internet is funny sometimes. Here is the wording of a link that got fabricated and displayed in a banner add based on my browsing activity: "The Blues - Symptoms, causes, treatments of The Blues" Then it gave the web address to a medical site of some sort. I guess Comander Data could have answered this one a long time ago if someone had bothered to ask him. Now that IBM has "Winston", we can defer other age old questions to him. I think I like it better when there is still a little bit of mystery but what can you do?

The Real Deal; Mr Quinn Sullivan

This kid is a real guitar player at any age. See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4xVkTr01l0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewm_7mzfZi0&feature=related

Civil War

You know, if you think about it, the Civil War really wasn't all that long ago. Crazy stuff. What a terrible time to be a soldier living in America. They have been running a series on PBS for the last several nights and I have caught bits and pieces of it. It really souded like Lincoln was a great leader and a great human being. Sad he got killed by an idiot but he got the important stuff done. Hopefully, looking back on it, he would have been satisfied with his contribution to humanity. The other obvious thing that struck me is how good a General Robert E. Lee was. In terms of American values, he was fighting for what I consider to be the less than the best cause, but back then, in the minds of the Southerners, I am sure they rationalized it was more about states' rights.

Police search home of actor Charlie Sheen

(Reuters) - Police searched the home of Charlie Sheen on Thursday looking for firearms that would have violated a court order against him, but they found only bullets and an antique rifle, a lawyer for the actor said.

Thats right, the link doesn't work. There is enough Charlie News out there that I don't need to be a supplier.

I know he has put himself out there but even if he has, I don't know if it means he has to give up his rights. Maybe they would have searched his house even if he hadn't been so public with all his rants and such. Still, I can't help but wonder.

Somebody call the ACLU.

Two great tastes that go...

=




PLUS

Well, Not exactly.

But I did see a guy on TV cooking apples the other day so I decided to try it myself.

I cut up an apple and cooked it in a little bit of cooking oil and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on it. Then I realized I needed some sort of pastry to go with it so I got a couple of of those half cooked flour torillas they sell at the store and cooked them in the same pan I had used for the apples. I sprinkled cinammon and sugar on them also and then made some apple cinnamon tacos.

I have noticed before that if you put a little bit of butter on a flour tortilla and cook it, but not too much, it gets kind of a sweet taste. The cinnamon apple tacos actually tasted pretty good.

corny southwestern update

The stew/soup crockpot concoction/recipe from the last post turned out pretty good.

I had put enough chili powder to enhance the "southwestern" style zing that I like but not so much to overpower everything.

I was also glad that I didn't use the whole bag of 15 variety beans.

The only thing I addded was a can of corn after it was cooked and that seemed to help the texture and fit the recipe just right. One other thing that might work is some finely chopped raw onions added when it is served but I haven't tried that.

a total crock

Today I decided to use the crock pot to cook some beans and chicken.

Here is what I put in there.

Half of a bag of Hursts 15 Bean soup mix (it is a bag of beans with a flavor packet. I didn't use the flavor packet.

3 Chicken Breasts cut up

3 peices of bacon cooked in the microwave first between paper towels and then cut up

3 carrots cut up

3 or 4 celery stalks cut up

one and a half onions chopped

2 Jalapino peepers without the seeds

1 Bell pepper chopped

2 potatoes cut up

1 can of diced tomatoes unsalted

A good few shakes of Garlic Powdr

some onion powder

Several good shakes of Chili powder

a few good sprinkels of Mrs Dash

Oh Yeah, You gotta put some water in there also.

Thats all I can remember. I put it on about 3 hours ago. It already smells good but I know it is going to take a while for all the beans to cook right. I may cheat a little bit.

I guess I will find out how it turns out tonight.


ps. don't use your fingers to clean out the Jalapino's. Cut the pepper in half longways, take a spoon and under running water scrape out the seeds. Do this last and then make sure to wash your hands with soap and water right after that (before you touch your eyes or mouth). You need to use soap because the oil from the Jalapino needs to be broken up to be removed.

The way it has always been done

Hello from the one man problems of the world sovling brigade:


I was just listening to a radio talk dj republican guy talking about the middle east and how if revolution takes hold in the middle east and Saudi Arabia goes down to fundamentalists then we are all going to be chicken fried as far as our economy becaues we do not have enough energy to run things without thier oil.

My thinking is that if we can put a man on the moon then we can figure out how to produce, or actually capture, energy.

It is a simple fact that all of the energy we are using originally came from the sun. Dinasaurs either ate plants or other dinasaurs that ate plants so if oil came from dinasaurs then it ultimately came from photsenthisis or the bioligical converting and storage of the suns energy.

The natural answer is to capture the engergy from the sun and with all the advances of chemestry and biology to the point that they are not actually connected, we can do this.

There you have it,

Now go out and grow yourself a can of oil.

Bye

Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt is well respected as one of the great fingerpicking blues guitar players.

Here is a video of him playing a spiritural called: "Walk that Lonesome Valley"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgdLVWgU4G0

I really like this song. It is also interesting to see what a gentle personality that Mississippi John Hurt had in introducing his song. Very authentic in more ways than one. I think Im gonna learn me how to play this song. Then maybe I can walk the lonesome valley a little better my ownself.

Here is a version of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis doing the same tune (sans the Jordanaires) with a little rockabilly guitar to go with it :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJnpSSTERo&NR=1&feature=fvwp

I do like the back up vocals by Jerry Lee Lewis.

Here is June Carter and her sisters doing the same tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79a-qg6t5fw


& if you have time, click on this one to walk somemore:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1fFO92vxoQ

This one is from the movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAs4L9AKUKk&feature=related

Mubarak is done

The people have spoken in Egypt and Mubarak is out.

I hope they are able end up with a representative form of government that is not oppressive. There is no doubt the terrorists will try to step in but I am encouraged that there has not been alot of anti-American rhetoric attached to this revolution.

I heard that Twitter and Facebook were the conduits for the whole thing. I imagine that social network sites will be shut down from here on out many countries around the world where the people do not get a voice in the government.

I now join with all Americans in wishing the people of Egypyt the best.

Here is a video of some of the celebrations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q37tYtXoBw&feature=watch_response

I like the one where the Taxi Driver put flags on his windshield wipers and pushed them forward so the flags were waving.

It is really touching to see the people so happy. I know things can get messy during a transition of power but Damn, I hope these poeple get to stay happy.

Conan Plays Guitar

Unless you are Jay Leno, You will like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfxu8qbY4Is

Conan O'Brian Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGyv0hXrulQ

Wanda Jackson - Rockabilly Queen

Here is a video from Wanda Jackson's appearance on David Letterman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzDfYidKU5c


Jack White produced her latest album and has kind of put her back on the map. This performance rocks in a way you just can't do at home.


Watch this one for some history on these two & more about the album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCN4kVcgK5w&NR=1&feature=fvwp

It's like the Beatles

The other day it was in the news that the White Stripes will no longer exist as a band.

Here is a video of some vintage stripes that seems to capture what they were about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03YUgHAshSo

I don't know if Jack White will be able to capture the rawness of the stripes on his own. I am sure he could if he really tried but it is harder to have the true punk rock vibe once you have made it to the big time like he has. The other thing, it is hard to recapture what Meg did on drums. That may seem strange to say but she was a big part of the White Stripes, probably much more than people realize. There was something about the chemestry or that made thier music rock at the core.

I wish both of these kids the best.

jack & alicia

Here is a video with Jack White and Alicia Keys:

It seems to have a little bit of a James Bond type quality to it to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icrNkmf9uyQ

There is a short section somewhere past the middle of the song where they do a call and answer with some scat vocals and lead guitar where it kind of sounds like Robert Plant in the early Led Zep.

Tattoo'd Lady

Here is another one from Rory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uezV4zn8tvI

Cool song here. The intro is again a clue about how Rory was unpredictable and did not play cliche style riffs. A true original.

More of the story of Rory

Check out the intro. This was years before VanHalen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k4iocWURPk&NR=1

Rory Gallagher

Hiya, hello, & Howdy.

Here's Rory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1zsRRt1FWE

This guy was really something. He was known more as an electric guitar player. One of my favorite songs of his is called "Calling Card".

Very Talented individual, and very entertaining.

One heluva guitar player.

Rasta Bob Vibration

Check out this video of Bob Marley with his band and the Three I's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGO8HN1QQdI


You can find plenty of Bob Marley Videos on Youtube by just doing some simple searches using Bob Marley or The Wailers.

It is interesting how Bob used to go into somewhat of a transe before he started singing. He does it on the video above. It seems like partly showman ship, some ganga, and also a bit if just getting lost into the music and channeling what is.

Here is another:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd2GZqQOuRw

This one is called the Rastaman Chant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmFhvWhiACg

& I hope you like Jammin Too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR5Qo4Pnc94

& of course, Redemption Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFGgbT_VasI

Los Quatros Amigos

These guys really rock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw1bHaUk1CM&feature=related

If you don't like this video, Please kindly never speak to me about music.


Thanks,

Rock On!

Democracy in Egypt?

We here at the one man web log have generally stayed out of political discussions but there is no hard and fast rule and besides that "so what?" if we do.

I am hearing politicicans talking about our responsibility to spead democracy in Egypt. Today it is John McCain speaking out.

My opinion is that we need to spread democracy here at home and we don't actually have a responsibility to spread our own ideologies around the rest of the world. Spreading our "Ideals" is a little different and that could use some work. Generally American policy has been shortsighted and we have aligned ourselves with who ever was in charge and looked the other way as far as "atrocities" and inhumane behavior. Sadam was our boy at one time. The Shah of Iran was our ally and so was Marcos in the Philipines. We have a fairly long history of aligning ourselves with people who are now probably sitting at a common poker table in hell. Really evil villain types and we stood by them until the people had an uprising and then we unsuccessfully tried to jump onboard. That is a failed policy and it won't work in Egypt any better than it will work in Pakistan if the people over there get worked up.

We promoted the idea of democratic elections in Palestine and they democratically elected a guy from Hamas which is considered to be a terrorist organization and now we don't want to officially recognize him.

My point is that we can't just pick and choose when we want to have high and mighty ideals and then use that as an excuse to stick our noses into the business of governing other countries.

behold virtuosity

For the regular readers here, You probably noticed that I deleted my recent posts about "the state of rock & roll". I just didn't feel aimless ramblings were up to the standards that we try to keep around here so I used the delete button a few times and I feel better now.

I have been listening lately to a CD that used to belong to my dad called "Andres Segovia My Favorite Works". It is a compliation of songs he performed and recorded and peresonally assisted in the selection of for this CD. According to the liner notes, he selected the songs in the final year of his life.

The music on the CD is from Spanish Composers and it is obvious it was all composed or specifically arranged for guitar.

There are several striking things about these recordings. One is that Andres Segovia is an absolute master and I have never heard anyone to equal his skill level as a guitar player. None.
Of course this isn't a huge revlelation since he is the most well known classical guitar player of our time. These songs are not just 2 or 3 minutes and the playing is so clean and clear it is simply amazing. No mistakes whatsover and I don't think it is because of editing. Another thing is how well he seems to "feel" the music and his use of dynamics. A third thing that is amazing is that as you listen to the music, you can forget you are listening to a guitar player and start to hear the story he is telling. The songs he chose to perform shows his excellent taste in music and a beautiful appreciation for art.

He was able to make very difficult feats of guitar artistry seem effortless and it never sounds like he is showing off even one iota. He is the only guitar player who I have ever heard who used harmonics and it didn't sound the least bit contrived or put in just to show that he knew how to do it.

The CD says "MCA Classics" at the top and the title is "Andreas Segovia My Favorite Works". I don't know if it is still being distributed but I imagine that it is.

Again, Everybody knows who Andreas Segovia was but he still I was am just blown away by how good he was. My dad always liked both Andreas Segovia and Carlos Montoya. Montoya is know for being a great, if not the greatest, Flamenco guitar player in the world. There are some who list other flamenco guitar players but Carlos Montoya is easily the most well known. I have agree that my dad had excellent taste in guitar music and I know he spent hours listening to both of these guys.

In our next lesson we will cover Watermelon. Is it a fruit or a vegitable?

Please do your homework, get plenty of sleep, shave the back your neck, and wash behind your ears. Also, be nice to animals. Everybody knows that besides just being unkind, a person who is mean to animals is just a pure creep. I know that some of you take pride in your creepyness but there is no reason to be cruel just for the sake of cruelty. Enough of that already.

That's it. Lights out. I don't want to hear a peep.

Time and space travel

Hello,

I know I already covered this but I was J-walking across Richmond Avenue today near Augusta and it occurred to me that time travel is not as simple as it may sound. I have no idea why that when I am crossing a street and hurrying to not get run over that I would think about such a thing but it is a fact.

In the movies, whenever there is a time machine, the "travelers" always end up at random places at random times since the "kinks" have not all been worked out. But since the Universe is everexpanding and Planet Earth is constantly moving, it is impossible that time travel would work without some fairly lengthy calculations.

As far as time travel goes a trip down "memory lane" is about as real as it is going to get. At least considering the parameters of the physical universe as we know it.

Like I said, I know I have covered this but I still am puzzled why I would be thinking about this while quick-stepping across the road to avoid traffic. This may seem like a trivial concern but so what?

Y2K + 11

Some people think the world is going to end in 2012.

As far as I am concerned, if there is an asteroid headed towards earth, I don't want to know about it in advance.

For all practical purposes, the world ended for Nostrodomus and the Mayans a long time ago.

The other day I was watching a show about a scientist who found blood vessels in dinasaur bones. They seem pretty certain that they are going to be able to get some dinasaur DNA and put it in chicken embryos and make dinasaurs again. The scientists have come to believe that birds are all decendents of dinasaurs and share the same dna so if they can just make it turn on and off the right way and wha-la.