As you can tell by my Mayan Countdown on the right sidebar, there are 28 days left for the end of [insert your belief here]. For those of you holding out for the Zombie Apocalypse you may want to start (or continue) your planning with a refresher...28 Days Later would be a good place to start.
Of course this movie has nothing to do with the Mayans and everything to do with Zombies!! It is another in a long list of "how the hell will we ever survive this" end of civilization movies.
Now that Thanksgiving is over...
See, now you don't have to worry you missed out on Black Friday sales!!
While in Salt Lake City for a conference several years ago I took the opportunity to walk the grounds of the Mormon Tabernacle. It is a pretty impressive place. I took some shots in B&W and this is one of the buildings on site.
**I started this post yesterday (Wednesday) as a reference to the mentions of time below.
CELEBRATION DAY
One of the good/bad things about "these days" is the speed of gratification. I grew up where waiting for things was the norm...like for weeks or months. Now with the Internet, iPhones and Pads, and the ability to order anything you think of by virtue of a device within arms reach at all times, things are different. "Instant Gratification" is the crack of our day to day lives. Waiting and patience is a lost talent for most people. I for one embrace the instantness of today's gratification. I'm sorry.
Now to the exciting part of this post. I say that with the caveat that if you are not in anyway a fan of music or the history of how music got to where it is now (sometimes it is hard to figure out exactly where it is) or think anything that is not Bach or Mozart is just noise, you may feel free to leave.
Those of you that have stayed, I have just spent the last two hours reliving some of my youth via the musical phenomenon known as Led Zeppelin. I know I posted about them a couple days ago, but through the magic of instant gratification, I received in the mail today the Celebration Day 2007 concert package that was just released on Monday. Quite surprised I was, but nonetheless ready to leave work immediately to get home to check it out. I was unnaturally excited I must say, and the looks on my non-understanding co-workers (this is Texas and Zeppelin is not Willie Nelson) gave thought to a possible seizure on my part.
The box once opened, revealed two CD's of remastered Zeppelin classics, a Blu-Ray DVD of the December 10th, 2007 concert at the O2 Arena in London, a DVD of the last rehearsals on December 6th, 2007. And a small booklet with short statements from each band member relative to this concert. Ironically death broke up this band and death brought this reunion concert about.
As I have mentioned previous, the great Zeppelin drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham died in September 1980. This after a day of rehearsals for their upcoming tour. Unfortunately Bonzo had a great affinity for copious amounts of alcohol. After a day and night of heavy drinking and eating he "retired" to bed. Sadly he was found dead the next afternoon and the cause was aspirated vomit in his lungs. You drink and eat too much, you pass out, you vomit, you inhale, you die. Certainly not the the first time this has happened but for sure (for me) the most crushing. I had tickets to their show a month later. I was beyond distraught. The band immediately announced the tour was canceled and they would no longer be performing as a group. The end.
I was in a state of disbelief for days. The radio station I listened to played their music as tribute and for me, a constant reminder of what I would never witness...a live performance by the greatest rock band ever. Of course compounding this matter was the fact that in a moment of unclear thinking, I foolishly sent my unusable concert tickets back for a refund. How friggin' stupid was that!!
The band never did perform again. No replacement drummer was ever going to stand up to Bonham's thrashing of the skins. There was never even a hint of Zeppelin playing again as a group. Everyone who ever hoped it might happen, hung those hopes on the solitary fact that Bonzo's son Jason was a drummer. I always held out hope he would be the one person who could reunite the group. It was the only hope in my mind.
The death of Ahmet Ertegun former Atlantic Records producer (Zeppelin's label at one time) on December 14th, 2006 created the opportunity for Zeppelin to do a tribute concert the next year. Someone somewhere wanted to see the band play again and this was the best opportunity...and it happened!
Back to the DVD...I put the Blu-Ray disc in the player and immediately strains of Kashmir spill over the title frame. As tempted as I was to listen, I pressed play and got right to the concert. The opening riffs of Good Times Bad Times kick things off and for me was quite an emotional excitement. Hearing that first song, thinking back to when I first heard it, recalling the time I was in the bowels of the Cleveland Coliseum and hearing Zeppelin play, seeing those guys together on the stage, and watching Jason perform as if the spirit of his father had taken over...it was very intense.
(Slight digression, my wife thinks watching a concert on TV is not really seeing a concert and even though she loves Zeppelin, she will be no where near as involved as I was tonight. But hey, they will probably never play together again and for sure not tour so watching the Blu-Ray on a big screen plasma at Mach 8 volume in a dark room...does it for me.)
The play list is as follows:
1 Good Times Bad Times
2. Ramble On
3. Black Dog
4. In My Time Of Dying (phenomenal rendition)
5. For Your Life
6. Trampled Under Foot
7. Nobody's Fault But Mine (one of my favs from Presence)
8. No Quarter (I friggin' love this song!)
9. Since I've Been Loving You
10. Dazed And Confused (yes, complete with bow-playing guitar work)
11. Stairway To Heaven (always voted greatest rock song of all time)
12. The Song Remains The Same
13. Misty Mountain Hop
14. Kashmir (WOW!!)
15. Whole Lotta Love
16. Rock And Roll
Now a few observations:
1. They nailed EVERY single song! The power and force were unbelievable for a group with three guys in their mid-60's. Page is going to be 70 in two years, watching this performance and equating it with that was mind boggling. He is arguably the greatest creative guitarist ever. These songs have stood for 40 years and rival anything being played today. Plant's voice is still fantastic and so perfect for this music. JPJ's bass and keyboard work round out their sound. This concert couldn't have sounded any better if it was back in 1980 again.
2. Jason Bonham IS his old man. He is a big solid dude and can absolutely play lights out. His power drumming drove the show. Critics review afterward: "Bonham's playing was flawless." Agreed. Read his little note in the box set, pretty cool. Rated it the greatest day of his life and after it was all over, he just broke down and cried. Props dude.
3. Not a weak song in the bunch (not that LZ has any weak songs). Reaffirms their status as the greatest rock n roll band ever.
4. Watching a concert from the comfort of your own couch does not suck.
5. If you enjoy this band and their music in anyway shape or form, this is the best $29.95 you can spend this holiday season. Get it for yourself or for your favorite music fan. Nancy, this may help your son see the light!
6. I am buying a second set to keep sealed and put away.
7. I took these pictures of the screen like I was standing in the front row of the show!
Here is the last two minutes of the show...
I'll probably watch this again next week...rock on!
20 million people applied for tickets to Zeppelin's London's O2 Arena 2007 reunion show...for 20,000 seats. Let that soak in for just a minute. 20,000,000. It was a Guiness World Record for the most in demand event ticket ever.
Zeppelin disbanded in 1980 after John Bonham's sudden death and had never performed as a group again. Almost 30 years later that many people clamored against huge odds for a chance to see these musical icons play. Bonham's son Jason is a fantastic drummer in his own right so this is as close to a reunion show, true reunion show, as it gets. The soon to be released Celebration Day DVD is THAT show. Today is the release date and I have ordered mine already.
One of my new favorite shows of this season is Revolution. After being a huge fan of another post-apocalyptic series, Jericho, this is the series I have been waiting for to fill the void. I was thrilled to find out that Zeppelin music is going to be featured in tonight's episode. See news article (obvs written last week):
LOS ANGELES — What tunes fit a post-apocalyptic society? For NBC's freshman drama "Revolution," the answer is Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and "Since I've Been Loving You."
The songs will be featured in next week's episode of "Revolution," on the same day that Led Zeppelin's "Celebration Day" album and a companion documentary on DVD will be released.
Corporate synergy led to the deal for the onetime rock band that rarely allows use of its music in Hollywood projects. "Revolution" is produced in association with Warner Bros. Television, and Led Zeppelin has a deal with Warner Music Group's publishing arm.
But it was Eric Kripke, creator and executive producer of "Revolution," who brought his series and the band together.
When Warner-Chappell Music sent out an email asking if any producers on the studio lot would be interested in using Led Zeppelin songs, Kripke jumped at the chance.
"The speed and overwhelming enthusiasm with which I responded, I think, frankly weirded them out a little," said the self-described "massive Led Zeppelin fan."
His credentials: Between "Revolution" and "Supernatural," the CW drama he created, Kripke said he's probably used Led Zeppelin references in the titles of some 20 episodes. "Revolution," about an American family struggling with the nation's sudden loss of all electrity and all the technology it powered, was in part inspired by the band's music and its sense of "mythic adventure," he said.
Warner made a logical pick with "Revolution": The series benefits from a 10 p.m. EST Monday berth after NBC's hit singing contest "The Voice" and started strong in the ratings, especially with the advertiser-favored young adult demographic.
The Led Zeppelin-accented episode of "Revolution" will air 10:01 p.m. EST Monday, Nov. 19. A "Revolution" promo spot featuring "Kashmir" will air throughout this week on NBC, with an extended version available on the network's website.
The "Celebration Day" projects document the band's 2007 reunion concert at London's 02 Arena. Original members Plant, Page and John Paul Jones, along with Jason Bonham, son of the late drummer John Bonham, played to honor Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.
For the group, which disbanded after John Bonham's 1980 death, the concert was its first full show in 27 years. The documentary, including hits "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway To Heaven," was released in theaters last month.
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This is a great interaction of the group...
Save it to your RealPlayer and listen to it later. If you are a Zeppelin fan you can't miss it. Can you believe Jimmy Page is almost 70 years old??? Crazy.
It's that time of year again where we gather in hoards and consume mass quantities...of everything. Too much fat...too much starch...too much protein...too much alcohol, etc. That and football...and napping. Man, am I looking forward to Thursday!
To start this party off right I offer up for your approval the following graphs of various shapes and styles. Enough to get your brain cells off.
Please relax and enjoy...
Well played Mr. Bond, well played...
The Stones said it best..."You can't always get what you want"
How the cogent brain works...I think
Of course this was before the flux capacitor...now THAT fixed everything!
I have friends that see like dogs...oh yeah, they're color blind!
Of course I am late to Alex's Blogfest but I am going to cast my lot anyway. And since Alex included a mention of me and my site on his list, well now I really feel bad about missing the action yesterday.
A little history first...in the beginning of my blogging career (can you call it a career when you are not being paid??) I had no idea what I was doing. I knew I could put a couple words and a few sentences together and maybe documenting my thoughts and what have you in a blog format would be kind of fun. I knew nothing really of meeting and connecting with people in the blogosphere and forming cyber-friendships. This was all really new territory for me. Putting opinions and observations out there for other to digest and agree, disagree, or ignore at their will. Getting "followers" was a afterthought to just hoping someone would find my little blip on the blog radar and then choose to read it. I was content just to mosey along and letting things take their course.
Then Pat Tillett came along and decided (at his own risk mind you) that he would press that fateful follow button and forever be derailed into my cyberlife. Alex was not far behind him. I do not even know how or why they found and chose to follow my ramblings. I know I found a few sites that were interesting from Bloggers Blogs Of Note and began following them. I certainly have never been a Blog Of Note. That would really be hilarious!!
I credit Alex with boosting my follower count when I joined my first A-Z Challenge...I believe it was in its second year at the time. Lucky for me my site began with the letter A and since Alex had chosen to feature blogs beginning with the letter of the day during the challenge...I was in his first heavily read post. I awoke the next day to about 25 comments on MY post...people led there directly due to Alex putting my site in print on his. This challenge increased my followers by around 70 or 80. I was all "Holy sh*t", what is this!! Do I need to dress better now when I post? I was overwhelmed.
Granted those that had joined as followers of my site did it out of some frenzied zeal that the opening days of the challenge generated. Since I am not of the "writing clan" of which people like Alex, Milo, Nancy Thompson and others rule, I am not surprised to have had many of those followers wither and depart...left as a hollow shell in my follower count.
I have no idea where I was going with all this...as usual (see, NOT a writer by trade). I end this by saying thank you to all who read me, enjoy my photos and leave comments both always and periodically.
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This post is really about those who I miss. I truly miss their writings and postings and drawings and whatever they would choose to put out there. Narrowing to three is hard but here goes:
Hyperbole and a Half. Created by the hilarious Allie Brosh. This is an example of a virally successful blog. Two years after creating her site, she last posted. At that time she had over 58,000 followers. So many that no more people could join...like ever! Her hugely comical posts were sometimes months apart and would generate over 1000 comments with in the first couple hours of a new one being published. Her last post so far was the announcement that she had a book deal to publish her blog posts and new material. Sometimes I go back and read her post on 7 Games You Can Play With a Brick...pure comic genius with great pictures. Fun fact: when that post came out it got 86 comments and one of the commenters announced she was the 999th follower...that was in March of 2010. I miss Allie.
Us and Them. Besides being a great Pink Floyd song, this site operated by Captain Dumbass and revealing the trials and tribulations of life with his demon children is really missing still from my reading. CD is another one of my original followers. He has not published in 8 months and since he is from BC in Canada, I am concerned the Mounties have gotten him. Read this post...would your wife let you do this before delivery?? Funny stuff Capt'n, you are missed.
Blackerries to Apples. This was a Blog Of Note I began following early in my blogging life. Meghan is a young Alabama girl who moved to the Big Apple in search of furthering her writing and "self expression" career. Obssessed with Lady Gaga and the eclectic life she has found in New York, she morphed her writing blog to a more picture and, I must say, Beyonce oriented site. She is now teaching and practicing yoga and apparently doing quite well. She was my vicarious New York vacation. I got a different perspective of writing style when I read her posts. She is missed.
Honorable mention: Pat Tillett has been absent for a few weeks and I am anxious for his return.
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Those I would miss if they were abducted by aliens tomorrow??
Alex J for sure, and not just coz he has been a good friend and follower despite being the busiest blogger on the planet. His site is a must read. Alex has helped so many writers in whatever way he can. Truly a humble scribe. He never fails to comment on anything I post. And I appreciate that. His appetite for good music knows no bounds. Thanks Alex.
Rawkn Robyn...her reasons for celibacy alone keeps me in stitches. Plus she loves fair trade chocolate...woohoo! I like reading about her quiet little NorCal town and her pizza stories! She also is a faithful commenter. Thanks Robyn.
Patrick Tillett...his photography, his marine corps stories, his travels...I enjoy every single post this man has ever written. I have often said that an afternoon relaxing with a few beers, Pat and Alex...that would be a good time. Thanks for being there from the beginning, Pat...congrats to making it on both my lists!!
My listing for both categories could include so many more and I want no one to feel slighted for not being listed in this post. Lucy, Hilary, Rita, Nancy, Shannon, Jeremy, Stormy, Jen...and you most of all tin man (my Oz reference) Geoff from the Man Cave...etc. etc.
I have enjoyed my internet journey so far and consider this my second home...now who is hosting Thanksgiving???
