MAINSTREAM COOLER - For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.

[Cliff Varnell]

3 hours ago, Bill Fite said:

Hi Kirk, I've seen almost all of them (no Beatles, not Stills), most at what I think was their peak and in theatres or outdoors not in stadiums.  

I remember being pissed off when Dylan had the nerve to charge $20 for a ticket in 1972 or 73.

It was $15 bucks at the Hollywood Sportatorium in Florida in January, 1974.  "Before the Flood" tour w/The Band.

3 hours ago, Bill Fite said:

 

  I think that was the end of the 60s myself either that or the Stones Exile tour in 72 which I was fortunate enough to see in great seats. 

There were a lot of others that I saw later in smaller venues that weren't big names in the 60s - Steve Goodman, John Hartford, John Prine, Silly Wizard, Battlefield Band, New Grass Revival (saw them 23 times), Beausoleil and Emmylou (5 different lineups) all multiple times.

Sweet!  I saw Steve Goodman, John Prine, and Fairport Convention at the Ithaca Folk Festival in April '74 (iirc).  Emmylou has closed the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival for the past 20 years.

3 hours ago, Bill Fite said:

And I was fortunate enough to catch these legends - Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys (Kenny Baker) in a high school gym, Muddy Waters (w Clarence Pine Top Perkins, Willie Big Eyes Smith and Jerry Portnoy) at the first Chicago Fest, Stephane Grappelli (3x), Wynton Marsalis (9 piece group), King Sunny Adé, Taj Mahal (2x), Ry Cooder w David Lindley, the David Grisman Quintette (O'Conner version), Johnny Cash w the Carter Family & Carl Perkins, Ella Fitzgerald.

You'd love Hardly Strictly.

3 hours ago, Bill Fite said:

Also saw great speeches by Rod Serling, R. Buckminster Fuller & Sen Eugene McCarthy.

@Matt Allison  Was Ruby Gulch still around when you were in Champaign?

 

 

 

 

[Bill Fite]

2 hours ago, Kirk Gallaway said:

I just to happen to come across this travel clip of Carcassonne. Looks like a cool fortress city! These brits loved it! They asked, 'why does nobody come here?"  I bet that's fine with you!

I live in a little village just outside Carcassonne just off the Canal du Midi.  Been here about 4 years.  

The castle is really a good tourist visit.  A friend of mine came to visit and said that when she asked her sons if they knew about Carcassonne one just laughed and told her that the castle is used as the backdrop in a lot of medieval video games.

The city itself is home to a lot of dying shops but has an interesting center plaza with a variety of cafés.  Over the last year or 2 there are finally some new really good restaurants opening.

Just across the canal from us is Pennautier - a vineyard that has a really good restaurant menu (3 courses and a glass of wine for a fixed price).

Lots of interesting smaller towns cities around - Narbonne, Mirepoix, Limoux (Goya museum here) and it's about an hour away by car or train from Toulouse which I really like.   

Edited 19 hours ago by Bill Fite

[Bill Fite]

5 hours ago, Cliff Varnell said:

I saw Steve Goodman

Yeah @Cliff Varnell - I always wanted to go to Hardly Strictly.

I think you are correct Dylan was the first to go over $10 and his tix went for $14.

Goodman - wow - what an entertainer!  I saw him  3x never disappointed always something new - new songs & new covers - The American Bandstand theme, Tommy James' I Think We're Alone Now (complete with running during the running lyrics), Big Iron, Secret Agent Man.

His Penny Evans is IMO the best Vietnam era anti-war song.

Somewhere I hope there's a tape of his Soundstage show where his backup band was Jethro Burns on Mando, David Amram on Ocarina and Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet mouthpiece and jaws harp!

Edited 14 hours ago by Bill Fite

[Cliff Varnell]

 

[Bill Fite]

My favorite Goodman song -- w Bromberg, Bob Dylan & Maria Muldaur on background vocals, Bill Keith on banjo,Vasser or Kosek fiddle - Somebody Else's Troubles

 

Steve Goodman - Somebody Else's  Troubles link

Edited 18 hours ago by Bill Fite

[Steve Thomas]

3 hours ago, Kirk Gallaway said:

 

Is this an outlier or a real trend to the upside?

 

 

Donald Trump is full of nothing but hatred and juvenile insults.

His schtick is getting old.

I can feel the tide changing. The winds of change are in the air.

Steve Thomas

[W. Niederhut]

13 hours ago, Bill Fite said:

Hi Kirk, I've seen almost all of them (no Beatles, not Stills), most at what I think was their peak and in theatres or outdoors not in stadiums.  

I remember being pissed off when Dylan had the nerve to charge $20 for a ticket in 1972 or 73.   I think that was the end of the 60s myself either that or the Stones Exile tour in 72 which I was fortunate enough to see in great seats. 

There were a lot of others that I saw later in smaller venues that weren't big names in the 60s - Steve Goodman, John Hartford, John Prine, Silly Wizard, Battlefield Band, New Grass Revival (saw them 23 times), Beausoleil and Emmylou (5 different lineups) all multiple times.

And I was fortunate enough to catch these legends - Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys (Kenny Baker) in a high school gym, Muddy Waters (w Clarence Pine Top Perkins, Willie Big Eyes Smith and Jerry Portnoy) at the first Chicago Fest, Stephane Grappelli (3x), Wynton Marsalis (9 piece group), King Sunny Adé, Taj Mahal (2x), Ry Cooder w David Lindley, the David Grisman Quintette (O'Conner version), Johnny Cash w the Carter Family & Carl Perkins, Ella Fitzgerald.

Also saw great speeches by Rod Serling, R. Buckminster Fuller & Sen Eugene McCarthy.

@Matt Allison  Was Ruby Gulch still around when you were in Champaign?

 

 

 

Wow!  Awesome stuff, Bill.

I went to see Maria Muldaur at Ebbet's Field (in Denver) the year she came out with her fabulous eponymous album (with Dr. John and a cast of studio All Stars.)

I was first in line, and I got at stage side table three feet in front of Maria's microphone.

She was practically spitting on me during the show.  And what a voice!

 

Edited 9 hours ago by W. Niederhut

[Steve Thomas]

I read this morning that J.D. Vance is going to flame out faster than Sarah Palin.

Kamala Harris going to start hitting out on the idea that this guy would be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and with Donald Trump being 78 years old, that is a real possibility.

Vance said that Harris not qualified to be the President because she is not a mother. Well, I guess that disqualifies him too; and, as a commedienne pointed out, no President in the history of our country has been a mother.

Vance's hatred of women is palpable.

Steve Thomas 

Edited 16 hours ago by Steve Thomas

[Cliff Varnell]

Harris sees opening in Vance as she considers her own pick for vice president

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/politics/kamala-harris-jd-vance-vp-pick/index.html

CNN — 

Kamala Harris’ plan as a running mate was to brush past JD Vance as nothing but a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. But now that she’s the presumptive Democratic nominee, her campaign is seizing on the Ohio senator as a major liability, looking to her own vice presidential selection process and the contenders’ public auditions to drive home the point. </q>

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sparked the whole "JD Vance is weird" narrative.  Gone viral, as the kids say.

If I could get a bet down I'd put it on Walz for VP.  Harris can double down on the Smart & Cheerful vibe.

Edited 15 hours ago by Cliff Varnell

[Cliff Varnell]

On behalf of the world's coolweird, I must protest these uncool characters Shady Vance and Tiny Trump giving weird people a bad name.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."  Hunter S. Thompson.

That's not what's going on here.  Vance and Trump are going amateur, strictly.  When the going gets rough, the uncool turn weird.

[Steve Thomas]

The Best Social Media Follows Right Now Are Actual Mountains

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/national-park-service-and-mountains-are-the-best-social-media-accounts?ref=home

"There’s nothing wrong with following your heart, but it doesn't hurt to check the map."

— National Park Service (@NatlParkService) July 20, 2024

"Whoever said “out of sight, out of mind” never had a spider disappear inside their tent."

— National Park Service (@NatlParkService) July 22, 2024

 

https://x.com/MountRainierWA

 

https://x.com/MtHoodUpdates

 

Yellowstone trended for a while on Tuesday and the Washington Emergency Management account (an official account not a parody) praised their volcanos for “just sitting there. Being good,” which, of course, Mt. St. Helens had to comment on.

Baby back bitch https://t.co/Y7VZybs0mD

— Mt. St. Helens (@MtStHelensWA) July 23, 2024

 

Steve Thomas

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Steve Thomas

[Bill Fite]

2 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

went to see Maria Muldaur at Ebbet's Field (in Denver)

I really regret not going to every show I could at Ebbets when I was in the Army, protecting the country from imminent Communist invasion at Fitzsimmons Medical Center.

[Matt Allison]

13 hours ago, Bill Fite said:

@Matt Allison  Was Ruby Gulch still around when you were in Champaign?

Bill- Ruby Gulch was just before my time; I think it had been converted into a sandwich shop by the time I got to C-U.

The clubs there where I saw the first shows of my life (underage, no less) were Mabel's and Channing -Murray. 

[Matt Allison]

10 hours ago, Cliff Varnell said:

Tell us more about the shows you have attended.  Big Black?  Articles of Faith?  The Effigies?  Naked Raygun?

Cliff- Yes, I saw the Effigies and Naked Raygun back in the day. I got to work with NR lead singer Jeff Pezzati in 2004 when he sang backup on one of the Alkaline Trio records I did; a genuinely stellar human.

Never saw Big Black, but I would run into Steve a lot at his studio, Electrical Audio, as it's my favorite place to track drums.

[Matt Allison]

Cliff and Bill- as you know, Steve Goodman was a gifted songwriter, and I think it's super-cool that his name lives on here in Chicago via the fact that a song he wrote for the Chicago Cubs is still played over the PA in Wrigley Field immediately after every Cubs win. He tragically passed in the summer of 1984 when the Cubs were in the hunt for their first pennant since 1945. He was a huge Cubs fan.