December 31, 1969. I was 16, and it was my first New Year's Eve out. I took my girlfriend, Ellen, to a Chinese restaurant on west 8th street in the Village and then walked over to the Fillmore East. I knew we were going to see Hendrix, but didn't know what this Band of Gypsies thing was.
Of course, I had expected to hear all the great songs from Are You Experienced and his other albums. But this was something new and different. Funky and surprisingly optimistic. Less flashy, more focused on the music.
We saw the early show, so it's not the one on the album, but essentially the same set. They did throw in Foxy Lady, and Buddy Miles did Them Changes with every band he played with.
After the show, we made it to Times Square for midnight and then went up to Central Park to catch the end of the WNEW-FM party hosted by Zacherle.
Hell of a night and hard to imagine I did all that at the tender age of 16. I think there was some making out, too; at least I'd like to remember it that way! She was a great girl, and the only one I ever had a bad break-up with. Funny how I still regret that so many years later.
Part 1:
Part2:
I've always thought Band of Gypsies was great stuff, and although they were a band, it was still mostly about Hendrix. All the sadder that he didn't live to keep evolving his music.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Band of Gypsies - New Year's Eve - Fillmore East
Monday, December 25, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
What Jews Do on Christmas
I mentioned to a Christian friend that I was planning another typical Jewish Christmas -- Chinese food and a movie. He looked at me with amazement. Indeed, he has Jewish friends that do this, but he never realized it was a "thing."
There's a great Dim Sum restaurant in Denver called The Empress. Last Christmas we went at noon and there were about 250 Chinese and 50 Jews. Can't remember what movie we saw after. Absolute perfection would be a new Woody Allen flick!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
I'm Not Making This Up
from Britney Spears' web site:
After seeing her snatch -- and man has it been magnified -- I would thank God for any underwear she'd acquire.
The ISG Report
I've never been asked to join a commission analyzing and making recommendations on how to fix a broken war. But I have been asked in business to find solutions to urgent problems. And I can tell you, there is never the luxury of taking nine months to get this done as the Iraq Study Group did.
The result is "a report overtaken by reality." as George Will writes today. Read it.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
melted away
By that time, the prewar intelligence had proved inaccurate. No Iraqi units changed sides, and the number of surrendering forces was small. Iraqis had sacked Army garrisons, and entire divisions had melted away.
- Washington Post
The Iraqi Army was conspicuously absent, for example, in the Hurriya neighborhood, where rampaging Shi'ite militias damaged Sunni mosques and allegedly immolated worshipers. In Hurriya and elsewhere, many Iraqis reported that the Iraqi soldiers either melted away when the militias arrived — or worse, stood by and watched as they attacked Sunnis.
- Time
One of the more interesting lessons of the Iraq war was the nearly complete collapse of the Iraqi army. This was largely forgotten until recent media criticism along the lines of, "why wasn't the Iraqi army kept together for peacekeeping duty." The reason was simple; the Iraqi army simply melted away before Baghdad fell.
- Strategy Page
The Iraqi Army suffered from poor morale, even amongst the supposedly elite Republican Guard, and entire units simply melted away into the crowds upon the approach of occupation troops.
- Al Jazeera
Sectarianism has defined some forces, too, as Shiite militiamen and Sunni insurgents infiltrated the ranks. During times of unrest, entire units have simply melted away, rather than face down Shiite gunmen during a 2004 uprising in Najaf, south of Baghdad, and Baghdad's Sadr City slum, or Sunni militants during fighting that year in Fallujah.
- Christian Science Monitor
When the insurgency erupted in 2004, the soldiers either melted away or switched sides altogether, and in the growing religious tensions that have opened since, they have too often been identified with sectarian interests.
- The Telegraph
The idea was that they would carry out suicide operations as part of Saddam’s strategy to hold the capital and to weaken the Americans, as what Saddam imagined would be a siege of Baghdad began. Instead, the Americans arrived much more quickly than he had imagined. His army did not hold the line, and Baghdad fell, to all intents and purposes, without a fight—with the exception of sporadic opposition from Baath Party militia, isolated military men, and these jihadis in roving bands. Then they melted away; I remember seeing them melt away on the morning Baghdad fell.
- The New Yorker
But there is something of a puzzle. Where has the Iraqi opposition gone to? The Republican guard has not put up the expected levels of resistance. Maybe this is an indication of how badly they've been hit from the air, perhaps it has just melted away to take up further positions closer to Baghdad.
- Daily Kos
Razzaq, 40, is a native of Diyala province, a mixed Sunni-Shiite area northeast of Baghdad. He graduated from a military academy in 1986 and entered the Iraqi army as an officer during the Iran-Iraq war, which raged from 1980 to 1988. He says he was not destined for the top ranks of Saddam's military. A cousin had been executed by the regime, and Razzaq never joined the ruling Baath Party, an essential step to ensure promotion.During the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, his infantry unit was in Kut, a town south of Baghdad. Razzaq says his unit melted away in the face of U.S. forces without firing a shot. "We didn't waste one bullet," he says. "We just put on civilian clothes and left."
- USA Today
The study acknowledged that psychological operations did not lead to the mass surrender of Iraqi forces as many Army leaders expected. Rather, most regular Iraqi military forces did not stand and fight, but melted away before coalition attack.
- Army News Service
On MTP [Meet thge Press], National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley pointed out that the Rumsfeld Memo, reportedly calling for a course change in Iraq, is actually a laundry list of options the SecDef was asked to compile, not a set of definitive policy recommendations. Hadley said that we had planned on their being more Iraq forces intact after the war, but they "melted away." He seemed to be saying that the Administration had a plan to use the Iraqis in uniform when it has long been a contention that Bremer simply dissolved the Iraqi security forces.
- Red State Network
I understand now: We had a strategy, and it melted away.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Not enough junk in the blogosphere, so...
Another useless meme. Don't know whether to blame writeprocrastinator or Katie Schwartz for this one. I'll blame Katie.
DO YOU SNORE?
We don't sleep here in the 5th dimension.
ARE YOU A LOVER OR A FIGHTER?
I'm a fighter. I fight Superman
WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR?
Losing my stash of Kryptonite.
AS A KID, WERE YOU A LEGO MANIAC?
I was an Animaniac.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF REALITY TV?
Archaelogists finding recordings of these shows in 500 years will understand exactly what our culture was about.
DO YOU CHEW ON YOUR STRAWS?
I chew on my fingernails.
WERE YOU A CUTE BABY?
I'm the one for which the doctors coined the phrase, "The baby is ugly."
IS THE SINGLE LIFE FOR YOU?
Enough people have told me to fuck myself, that I think I'm a couple.
WHAT COLOR IS YOUR KEYBOARD?
I don't have one. I compose telepathically.
DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER?
I don't shower.
HAVE YOU EVER BUNGEE JUMPED?
No, it's a stupid human trick.
ANY SECRET TALENTS?
Refer back to that fuck yourself answer.
WHAT'S YOUR IDEAL VACATION SPOT?
Krypton.
CAN YOU SWIM?
With the sharks.
HAVE YOU SEEN THE MOVIE DONNIE DARKO?
No, Lonnie Lighto.
DO YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE OZONE?
I hate Queens.
HOW MANY LICKS DOES IT TAKE TO GET TO THE CENTER OF A TOOTSIE POP?
Depends how far up Katie's ass it is.
CAN YOU SING THE ALPHABET BACKWARDS?
If I do that, I lose my powers over Superman.
DO YOU PREFER ELECTRIC OR MANUAL PENCIL SHARPENER?
I like to sharpen my little dick manually.
WHAT'S YOUR STAND ON HUNTING?
A deer stand.
IS MARRIAGE IN YOUR FUTURE?
Refer back to that fuck yourself answer.
DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yes, it's beautiful, like a doctor's.
WHAT ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO?
Lex Luther.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAID, I LOVE YOU?
Refer back to that fuck yourself answer.
DO YOU CRY AT WEDDINGS?
That's when I laugh.
HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS?
McMuffin
ARE BLONDES DUMB?
Yes, and I like them that way.
WHERE DOES THE OTHER SOCK END UP?
Stuck to the sheets by static electricity.
WHAT TIME IS IT?
Too late.
DO YOU HAVE A NICKNAME?
Mister Mister.
IS MCDONALDS DISGUSTING?
Refer back to the eggs response.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE IN A CAR?
I travel by teletransport.
DO YOU PREFER BATHS OR SHOWERS?
Neither.
IS SANTA CLAUS REAL?
He was until I shot him for kissing my mommy.
DO YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR NECK KISSED?
Haven't figured out how to do that myself.
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?
I prefer white people.
WHAT ARE YOU ADDICTED TO?
Fear and loathing.
CRUNCHY OR CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER?
Jif creamy, because I cream in a jif.
CAN YOU CRACK YOUR NECK?
No, but I can crack my nuts.
HAVE YOU EVER RIDDEN IN AN AMBULANCE?
No, but I've helped put other people there.
IS DRUG FREE THE WAY TO BE?
Yes, I like free drugs.
ARE YOU A HEAVY SLEEPER?
Refer back to the snoring response.
WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES?
White.
DO YOU LIKE YOUR LIFE?
What's not to like.
ARE YOU PSYCHIC?
I see dead Supermen.
HAVE YOU READ CATCHER IN THE RYE?
Such a shame that Yogi Berra was a drunk.
DO YOU PLAY ANY INSTRUMENTS?
I play Superman like a violin.
HAVE YOU EVER STOLEN MONEY?
Money can't buy you love.
CAN YOU SNOWBOARD?
Prefer Segway.
DO YOU LIKE CAMPING?
Yes, I particulartly enjoy shitting in the woods.
DO YOU SNORT WHEN YOU LAUGH?
What's so funny? You think I'm funny, do you?
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?
God is alive, magic is afoot.
ARE DOGS A MAN'S BEST FRIEND?
Only when they bite Superman.
YOU BELIEVE IN DIVORCE?
Such a shame about Lois and Jimmy.
CAN YOU DO THE MOONWALK?
I stowed away on Apollo 11.
DO YOU MAKE A LOT OF MISTAKES?
I'm perfect.
IS IT COLD OUTSIDE TODAY?
As a witches tit.
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Chocolate covered ants.
DO YOU WEAR NAIL POLISH?
Yes, but only the clear stuff.
HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU LIKE RIGHT NOW?
I hate people.
WHAT'S THE MOST ANNOYING TV COMMERCIAL?
"What's the story, Jerry?"
DO YOU SHOP AT AMERICAN EAGLE?
I burned it down.
FAVORITE SONG AT THE MOMENT?
!aH aH yawA eM ekaT ot gnimoC er'yehT by Napolen XIV
And finally my question:
CAN'T WE COME UP WITH ANY BETTER QUESTIONS?
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Hunger Ends in America
by Joe Fresser Every year, the Agriculture Department issues a report that measures Americans' access to food, and it has consistently used the word "hunger" to describe those who can least afford to put food on the table. But not this year.
Sounds too good to be true. But according to our government, nobody in America suffers from hunger anymore.
Well, OK, 35 million people may experience very low food security. Think I'm joking? Think I made that up. Oh, no, your taxpayer dollars paid for that euphemism. Ya see, according to the Washington Post:
Bollocks! "Very low food security" is a more politically palatable description because nobody knows what it fucking means.
Mark Nord, the lead author of the report, said "hungry" is "not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food security survey." Nord, a USDA sociologist, said, "We don't have a measure of that condition."
The USDA said that 12 percent of Americans -- 35 million people -- could not put food on the table at least part of last year. Eleven million of them reported going hungry at times. Beginning this year, the USDA has determined "very low food security" to be a more scientifically palatable description for that group.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
How is Vietnam different from Iraq?
Bush had a plan for getting out of Vietnam.
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