It's not just the premiere of the latest season of Survivor, but it's also Caption Wednesday! I'm pretty excited about both!Â
We are expecting frost overnight, so in honor of cooler weather, I have selected the perfect photo!
Please give me your best caption to this photo. The winner will receive CD's/ DVD's and other FABULOUS prizes!
Your deadline is FRIDAY AT 2 PM because I'm still filling in for Vince in the afternoon.
Have fun, be creative and play nice!
This week, the caption contest recycles. We recycled the very first photo I had you caption. Now I have some recycled prizes, starting with some biodegradable golf tees made from corn. To go along with the tees, I have 2 DVD's that were given to me by a friend and I am re-gifting; Caddyshack and Grandma's Boy. Â
If that were not enough, this week's winner gets to browse the prize closet and  select 2 unclaimed prizes to add to their fabulous recycled prize package.
Good luck!!!
Hot enough for ya? How about a cool photograph and some fun captions. I know I sure could use the distraction.
Please give me your best caption to this photo. Winner gets prizes...some good, some not so much, the usual routine.
Your deadline is Friday at 4 PM.
Have fun, be creative and, as always, ( which you DO) play nice!
Apparently you guys were just as happy to have the caption contest back as I was if your oh so creative captions are any indication.
We start with the honorable mentions...first up is Justin:Â Â Â Â Â Â First draft of the Wookie costume, before Lucas had a decent budget.
next is Jan, who probably knows of what she speaks:
This is what a lifetime of yodeling can do the human body.
We can always count on James for a great caption:
Little Timmy was thrilled to have gotten a part in the Wizard of OZ, until he learned that he'd be one of the "non-flying" monkeys.
A very timely caption from Todd:
The new addition to the Glee cast is not going to fit in.
I loved this one from Tony:
Despite his completely outlandish, (some might call it other-worldly) appearance, Alfonso could never quite hide the shame caused by his all-too-normal feet.
Our first runner-up Geno reaches back to some of Wuisconsin's notorious history:
Ed Gein was really quite a prolific taxidermist, as shown by one of his early attempts.
But this week's BIG WINNER of some actual useful prizes is Chainsaw Curtis!
Slide, step, twirl, stop..."Jazzhands!"
                                                Thanks again everyone. have a great weekend and stay hydrated!
I've been working full time at Triple M since Sept. 2002, and in that time have met and interviewed a lot of rock and rollers, some famous, many up and coming. But one of my most anticipated (by me) was interviewing Trey Anastasio shortly after his first solo album was released. I had not done that many Studio M interviews at that time and was totally excited and nervous to meet and talk with him.
I knew Trey was a big Frank Zappa fan, so when he met me, held out his hand and said, " Hi, I'm Trey. Thanks for having me". I responded with: " This is a thrill for me only second to the time I made Frank Zappa laugh." I knew that would get his attention and I was right.
The start to the interview was delayed about 15 minutes, waiting for a client to show up for the Studio M, giving Trey and me time to chat a bit. Of course he wanted to know all about my Zappa encounter. When I told him that I had seen Zappa about 10 times, he was actually jealous and said so. It made me stop and think, that no matter how big a star you are and how many tens of thousands of people come to your shows, there is always someone who you admire who influences you.
Check out these candid shots of us: See.. we're talking!! ( am I a total dork or what? )
When the interview was over, he asks me to wait a second because he wanted to tell me something. ( Like I'd leave the room before he left).          Â
So he comes to me with his CD " Rift" and tells me that he was excited that Frank Zappa had heard this album before he died. he was so cute in his admiration for Frank, and it made me love Trey just a little  bit more .Â
If you'd like to hear the Studio M, click here
When I think back on my almost 10 years at Triple M, so many thoughts and memories rush in, particularly some of the artists  that I have met through Studio M. Getting up close and personal to people whose music I admire is a precious gift that I do not take for granted.
One of the things I like the most is meeting artists on their way up. The John Butler Trio came in shortly after their first album, and left me slacked jawed at how great they were. I remember North Mississippi Allstars coming in during the time we were playing their song âEyesâ. They were so stoned out they didn't even remember the lyrics!Â
Paolo Nutini stopped by Studio M two times. The first time, he was about 19 years old. He is sweet, soft spoken and talks in a very strong Scottish brogue. Half the time I didnât even understand what he was saying, but when he laughed I laughed. After we finished taping, we got to talking about his love of R & B and old school soul. I gave him a copy of James Hunterâs CD âPeople Gonna Talkâ, telling him that I thought he would like the album. The next year he comes back for another Studio M, and before we even started setting up, he told me how much he loved that James Hunter album. I had even forgotten I had given it to him, and was very impressed that he remembered. What a sweetie pie!     Â
Compare that to Los Lonely Boys, whom I interviewed at least three times. Â Each time, they totally didn't remember being here and meeting me.
Warren Haynes made me choke up when he sang âSoulshineâ at my request. Dan Hick (and the Hot Licks) gave me a hard time even before we started and I LOVED it.
But my BIGGEST thrill was meeting Trey Anastasio. More on that tomorrow!
Come July 4th, I will do something I never thought I'd ever do. I am moving to the West Side. Gas prices and the beltline have finally done me in.
I have been in Madison for the majority of my 30 years in Wisconsin. I first moved to Sun Prairie to work at 92 WMAD back when it was a rock station. At the time, there was nothing but green space between SP and East Towne. I have lived near Woodman's east, near Oscar Mayer and for a very long time, in the Monona area. In fact, I have lived in my apartment for 12 and 1/2 years, longer than I have lived in any one residence in my life.
I loved the East Side, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
I have a LOT of stuff. I have things that were in my parents house that I inherited when my dad moved out here from NY. I have furniture that was his when he passed in 2005. Tim actually moved in HIS stuff ( how dare he! ) in 2006.
Here are just SOME of the boxes:Â Â Â
 Â
                                                       Â
We have 33 crates for the records and CD's, and probably 15 boxes of books. Thankfully, we are moving into a large townhouse.
Wish us luck!
Another week draws to an end, but we still have one bit of business to attend to: this week's winners!
We start with 2 topical captions, starting with:Â Nick
Just when you thought the Anthony Weiner fiasco couldn't get any stranger, a new picture emerged on Twitter.
and Tony
Anthony Wiener's earlier photos weren't as explicit as his later work, but they were still disturbing none-the-less.
I love the short but sweet ones: Art Paul
I feel like there is something wrong with my outfit. Is my tie crooked ?
Steve:Â
"Does this caption make me seem relevant?"
and John
Anime: Japanâs payback for the A-bomb.
Our first runner-up is Anne:
"Blue on blue, heartache on heartache...There's sadness in the air and I'm as blue as I can be," Bobby sang as he put the finishing touches on his costume for the Harper Valley karaoke contest.
AND THE WINNER IS GARY:
Be honest, is this the outfit for me to meet the new in-laws?
Gary wins 2 games and an Elvis mug!
As we enter into the long brat-filled weekend, we always need a few laughs, so here are this week's caption contest winners, starting with the honorable mentions:
We start with Tammy:         Bob was happy not to recieve another "Kiss the Cook" apron for Father's Day. The kids really went all out this year.
Two of our " regulars" did not disappoint, starting with Kraig:
A perennial reject as a participant in the Sausage Races at Brewers' home games, Miller Park Security generally sees to it that "Squirty Mustard ("S/M") Sausage" is relegated to the far reaches of the Uecker Section of the tailgating area.
I had a lot from Brian to choose from, but this one I liked the best:
After their Monty Python Holy Grail gig, this is what the Black Knights were reduced to. Hollywood can be sooo cruel.
Derek went political:Â
"And they thought our PROTESTS were dangerous!Try our Parties!"
Harvey was very clever:Â
Like many minor celebrities, The Humungus supplements his royalty income from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, as a guest chef for charity.
Finally, our first runner-up ( and I literally had to flip a coin to decide)Â is SUE:Â Â
Nun faints at local neighborhood cookout. Some speculate that it was the heat, others are blaming it on the mustard.
                                                         But the BIG WINNER of this multi-media prize is Amanda!!
Alice Cooper and Gordon Ramsay have collaborated on a new reality show for The Food Network: "Welcome to My Nightmare Kitchen."
Have a safe and fun Memorial Day Weekend! See ya next week.
Wow.. we're getting some excellent captions to the photo in yesterday's ( Wednesday) blog.
here's an example:Â
you know you'd had waaay too much to drink when you wake up next to this guy....
Anyway... Here are the prizes this week:Â
A CD from last week's obsession, Brett Ryan!
A copy of Bill Leuder's book on muckraking and rabblerousing,
AND.. Look at those stickers! They can be YOURS! I know... exciting, isn't it!
I know this is the moment you have all been waiting for, so here we go with this week's winners, starting with our honorable mentions:
Up first is Art Paul :Â Â Â Â Â Â Â It's amazing what you have to do to get your video to go viral on youtube.com
next is Tim for " wreckless decorating"
The neighborhood Lawn Festival Committee judged the entry by the Jone's to be too pastel. They were placed immediately under arrest for reckless decorating.
Then we have Tammy who must be a Star Trek fan
Little known phenomenon of spring is the lawn ornament's ability to breed like tribbles. They do not however have a severe reaction to warn of nearby Klingons.
Ryan B made me laugh with this one:
Having retired last year, Mr. Jansen now works full-time as "that crazy Dutch bastard."
Brian went practical:Â
Asked why I did it I could only reply "it was to keep the Jehovahs away"
Our first runner-up in a close match is Donna:
"Hmmmm...", Mabel mused as she gazed at her lawn masterpiece, "I'm just not sure if Woody Woodpecker fits in with my theme. I like a cohesive look".
And this week's winner of things to play with is Cousin Eddie ( no relation)
                                                                               You oughta see the place at Christmas!
Thanks to all who participated and those, like me, who read and laugh. I have a good creepy one for next week!
Even on vacation, I can't delay the caption contest.
Please give me your best caption to this photo. I'll figure out some cool prizes, as always.
Your deadline is Friday at 4 PM.
Have fun, be creative, and, as always, play nice!
There's nothing like cute doggies to make you smile. So, here is this week's caption contest photo.
Give me your best caption to this photo to win FABULOUS prizes selected just for you!
Your deadline is Friday at 4 PM. Good luck, have fun, be creative and play nice!
One of the things I LOVE about my job is invigting artists in for Live From Studio M. In years past I got to meet and talk to some of my favorite artists, like John Butler, Robert Randolph and Trey Anastasio.
This year was no exception. One that really stands out to me is Locksley, originally from Madison and now in Brooklyn. I had heard their music and liked it, but when I found out they had opened for Ray Davies ( The Kinks), I knew I needed to find out more.
So in August, brothers Jesse and Jordan Laz dropped by to perform and chat a little. They were so funny and modest and I had a fantastic time with them. Listen to the full show here.
If you haven't seen their video f0r the song " The Whip" here it is!
So we just got back from a week's vacation on the whitest sand beach of Siesta Key Florida.
No, that's not snow, it's 100% pure quartz sand, the softest sand you've ever felt! It was a wonderful vacation, even though I killed my phone and camera.
After enjoying the afternoon at the beach, we threw the towels, sunblock. books, camera,phone and water bottles in the beach bag and headed back to our room. When we got there, Tim said " The beach bag is leaking", and I totally freaked out knowing my phone was in there.
Needless to say, water and an iPhone do NOT play well together and when I saw the message " No Sim Card" I knew I was screwed. SIGH
The closest Apple store was about an hour away, but I'm addicted to my phone so we made the trip. I was ready to bite the bullet and pay the $200 to replace the phone. I was ready, but certainly not happy. Anyway, we get the new phone, the Apple genius Ellie replaces the Sim card and prints my invoice.
Here's where it gets interesting. She used the " read the barcode" machine, but nothing happened. She tries again. She asks her co-worker to help. Nope.. it's not printing, so she turns to me and says, " System error.. here" and hands me the phone!!! No Charge!!!
We look at each other, andwalk quickly out the door. BIG SMILES!     Â
Now I need a systems failure at the camera department!
Like the TV stations, we have a  " Green Room" where artists can wait before a Studio M. We also have them drop back after the performance to leave their marks.
Check it out!
it's amazing to me how many musicians are good artists as well!
                                                             Â
I guess everyone really wanted this week's Viewmaster prize because we got so many great captions! Thanks to everyone who played along.
So here are out Honorable mentions:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
We start with Anne:
Joe, the photographer, was pretty certain this was one photo that CWM Photography would not include in its next brochure.
We can all relate to Philipâs caption:
High school yearbook pictures ALWAYS turn out just awful.
Then we have Ralp because everyone loves revenge:
Finally, Mr.Whiskers got his revenge for the many times he was made to wear ridiculous outfits. It was disturbing, however that his owner had this costume in the closet.
I have 2 cats, so I totally related to Paulâs caption:
"Cheese-us freakin' crackers," thought Cocoa the cat, "now it's posing for his damn Halloween card invitation photo. The B.S. I have to put up from this clown just to have my pampered little life of luxury!"
Tammy is our FIRST RUNNER-UP with her Foo Foo caption:
Boy was Foo Foo mad when he found out only REAL unicorns can reverse neutering.
And this weekâs winner with a caption that keeps making me laugh every time I read it, is Gretchen:
Some species mate for life.Gretchen is the lucky winner of the Viewmaster and all these other FABULOUS prizes!
Thanks again everyone. Just wait until you see NEXT week's photo!
We had so many great captions this week. You people are quite creative. So, letâs just get right to it.
Honorable mentions:
Phillip because anything that references Nancy Sinatra is OK in my book.:Â Â Â
 Zese boots vere made for valking...through Poland und Czechoslovakia, und France, und Belgium und...
 I wasnât too sure what Jen was talking about here, but it cracked me up anyway:
  After eating taco bell, Lieutenant Smith fought a war that was all his own...
 Sheilaâs was short and to the point:
  Ever have one of those days when you just FEEL pretty ?
 As was Zackâs!
 There's always a good drinking story...
First runner up is Jesse for his literary caption:
  Even though it was bitterly cold on the way to Moscow, the SS Players' 1941 production of The Wizard Of Oz went on as scheduled, much to dismay of Hans, the scarecrow.
                                                          And this weekâs winner of all these FABULOUS prizes ( well, prizes anyway) is  TOMMY:
  In the final days of WW2 German army recruits were forced to piece together uniforms from whatever they could find.
Thanks everyone. See you here next Wednesday!
August 14 and 15 2004 was both an exciting and sad day for Phish fans. That was to be the bands final farewell before they went on their separate ways. The band was as choked up as the tens of thousands of fans who walked for miles to get to Coventry VT. Keyboardist Page McConnell couldn't finish singing Wading in the Velvet Sea and needed the crowd to help sing the chorus.
I wasn't there and was not happy I missed it.Â
Fast forward a bit to November 2005. Trey's solo album Shine had come out and he was going on radio station visits to promote it. I think you may have some idea how excited I was to actually interview him!
Back then we hadn't built our beautiful Studio M performance area, so I entered the room where he had just arrived.
He turns to me, holds out his hand to shake and says " Hi, I'm Trey. Thanks for having me". I responded with " This is a thrill for me second only to the time I made Frank Zappa laugh." I knew he was as big a Zappa fan as I was, so I was hoping that would pique his attention. Well, it certainly did and we spent about 15 minutes just talking about all the Zappa concerts I had seen. He told me how lucky I was to have seen so many shows.
That comment got me to thinking; no matter who you are as a performer, there is always someone you admire and look up to. He was a terrific interview subject, as you might imagine, with the conversation including stories about his grandmother as well as Krishnamurti! You can hear the Studio M here, as well as this Sunday at 9 AM and 5 PM.
I enjoyed talking with him SO much, I don't even care what I look like in these photos! It was GABBY'S HAPPY DAY!!!
Think about how many devices you have that access the Internet. Every day, more and more smart phones and net books get sold. Some cars now can access the Internet and more will be added. So what does this all mean? We're running out of addresses. No, not the ones you type in that start with www, but the actual address assigned to your device.
I'm sure you've seen these string of 4 numbers with periods after them. According to the American Registry for Internet Numbers, the system can only handle 4 Billion addresses and they expect these to run out in less than a year. YIKES!
But don't panic. They have researchers working on the problem . Let's just hope it's not the same people who attempted to cap the oil spew in the gulf.
This weekâs  photo was the only thing Spring-like this week and, once again, we got some very funny captions.
Letâs start with the honorable mentions:
From the âwishful thinking â department comes Kent Seekerâs caption:
 Mows the lawn in three seconds flat! Then we had Todd, who obviously remembers childhood:
  The new Lego sets are getting a little too elaborate. Kraig brought us this very green caption:
 Li'l Bubba could not understand why some in the farming community called him "clueless" on the concept of sustainable agriculture. Heck, this baby could sustain 80 MPH across any 'ol agricultural field. FIRST RUNNER UP! JDE Enterprises with a short and sweet caption:
  Normal kids get Big Wheels on their 5th birthday, but that's not the case on the old McDonald Farm And this weekâs winner of an awesome prize package including the KebâMoâ bumper sticker and the 1980 book âThe Worst TV shows Everâ is Phillip Parmley!
 Sadly, this is all that's left of Grandpa's Coffin Dragster from the "Munsters" movie, "Munsters, Go Home!", a piquant, '60's romp inspired by Jane Wuthering's 'Sense and Insensitivity' and lovingly produced by someone who is probably dead by now, thankfully. The Munsters filled a key niche in the mid-20th Century American pysche, not only depic...oh, who cares?Â
Thanks everyone! Iâll find a good one for next Wednesday!
Â
Over the weekend we went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. This was the first feature film I saw in modern 3D and was totally blown away by it. I wanted to go see another 3D film the next day!
When I got to work today, I started talking about it with Zach in our sales department. He was saying how cool it would be if, for example, it was windy on screen and you felt wind in the theater.
This reminded me of William Castle, a 50's film director who did something very similar in theaters showing his film " The Tingler". Here's the director himself to explain:
Then I remembered John Water's 80's film " Polyester" that utilized a scratch 'n sniff card called Odorama! You received this card  when you entered the theater and during the movie, a number would flash on screen telling you which scent to sniff.  I actually have an old Odorama and it really worked!
I love the Kinks and I always have, so when I heard that Ray Davies was going to play the Riviera Theater in Chicago, I was there!
We were lucky enough to get seats in the first row of the balcony so I didn't have to stand for the whole show. Being only 5 feet tall, I never get to see anything if I stand in the crowd, so it was a great thing to have seats.
Ray Davies looks fantastic and the crowd, made up of aging baby boomers and young hipsters loved him. It's hard to hear the music of the Kinks and not sing along, but it didn't matter because he kept asking us to sing all night! ( Lola is playing on the radio RIGHT NOW! ) anyway.... I digress. Of course he did Lola, but I was most excited to hear " I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and " Dead End Street". In fact, I STILL can't get Dead End Street out of my head, so here is a fantastic video someone made to that song. Enjoy!
I'm sure you've all received emails from Nigeria telling you that you have been given millions of dollars if you only send them a smaller amont of money. Check out THIS creative new spam-mail I got today:
Attn: THE DIPLOMAT IN AIRPORT WITH YOUR PARCEL
We wish to inform you that the diplomatic agent conveying the consignment box valued the sum of $3.9 Million United States Dollars misplaced your address and he is currently stranded at your International airport now.
We required you reconfirm the following information below so that he can deliver your consignment box to you today.
FULL NAME:..........
ADDRESS:Address:............
CURRENT MOBILE NO:....................
NAME OF YOUR NEAREST AIRPORT:.............
A COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT:..................................
Please do contact the diplomatic agent with the email below with the information required.
Contact Person : AGENT. Paul D. Forsman
Email; dhl_couriers@sify.com
He is waiting to hear from you today with the information. NOTE : The Diplomatic agent does not know that the content of the consignment box is $3.9 Millions United States Dollars and on no circumstances should you let him know the content. The consignments was moved from here as family treasures, so never allow him to open the box.
Yours in service
Karen Watson
Director Foreign Delivery Department
DHL Courier Company
United Kingdom:
RICH I TELLS YA... I'M GONNA BE RICH!!!
Radio  people are full of useless knowledge, we just can't help it. We're the people who love little factoids and have our brains full of song titles and old TV shows. So, trivia competitions are made for people like us.
For the last ten years or so, I have been part of a team that competes in an annual competition in Cottage Grove, a fund raise for the Deerfield Public Library. There are about 30-35 teams of ten, answering questions in 4 rounds. Twenty five questions, 5 photos and 5 songs to identify in each round. The organizers are the Flying Zupan Brothers, trivia champs who always put together a great set of questions... Who wrote Lord of the Flies? What was the first name of Balloon boy? What year did Wisconsin become a state? In what decade was the CIA founded? *
Every year we come close, but never finish in the top 3 for the medals. This year, however, we KICKED BUTT and came in second to a team that does lots of trivia competitions every year. So thanks Tommy, Chandra, Mike, Tim and the rest of the team. I'm still grinning.
* William Golding, Falcon , 1848, the 40's
Back in 1992, Phish had just finished recording their 4th album "Rift" and had pretty much played almost every venue in Vermont over the previous decade. November 19 found them at St Michael's College in Colchester VT. What a great concert it was, in part due to the " living room " vibe of this hometown show.Â
The concert was slated to be another release from the Live Phish series, but it also happened to coincide with the tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti. So the band is making this release a fundraiser for Haiti.
 100% of the proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross and Partner's in Health, two organizations working hard to help Haiti rebuild and restore. Phish's own non-profit, The WaterWheel Foundation will match the first $15,000 raised from sale of this show.
Please feed your music habit AND help support the people of Haiti by downloading this album here
For a sense of what the band was sounding like back then, here's a song taken from a show recorded in Columbia, Missouri in March of 1992.
If you were to describe me to your friends, I'm pretty sure the words fashion show and brides would not be mentioned. But you would be wrong!
For more years than I want to remember, I have been the announcer at Joy Publications's Wedding Planner and Guide Bridal Shows, one weekend in Madison, and the following weekend in Milwaukee.
Since I have been doing this for so long, the models, the staff, the vendors and the guys running the music and I have  bonded and the show weekends are like a family reunion.
For me, the first show is always a challenge because it's the first time I will see the models and hear the music. I have no idea what the clothes will look like and what special things they have been planning. There's nothing like a dress rehearsal in front of hundreds of people to get a girl's adrenaline flowing.
But, boy, is it fun. See! I'm smiling!
I can't wait for next year to do it all over again.
What's YOUR caption to this photo? I'll choose my favorite and you'll get a fabulous prize!!!
UPDATE: If you haven't heard already, the Caption Contest prize is a WEEZER SNUGGIE! http://bit.ly/5VvM0F
Forget polka music. See what this young boy does with the accordian!
This guitar shredder is 13!
Then there's our very own T-Man Latz with the great Joe Bonamassa
If this wasn't enough to make you feel old and untalented, this little girl is five. FIVE!
We all have our storm stories this week. I stayed on the Westside Tuesday night so I could be sure to get into the radio station on Wednesday. My first heroes are the guys in town from Ohio who were also staying at the West Towne Suites. The parking lot was plowed, but I needed the help of 2 young strangers who dug my car out of the lot.
My second knight in shining armor was Tony our engineer. I managed to make it to within several feet of our driveway here at work, but got stuck on Ganser Way. Tony dug me out of the mess I left myself in, and I was able to get back into work and then home. Of course, they didn't plow my parking lot at home, so I have to thank the people at Ken's Market who let me leave my car in their lot for a few hours.
Next is David George. Did you know he never went home Tuesday night? I heard on the news last night that he was up for almost 40 hours. So thank you David and the other hard working meterologists and newspeople who braved the storm to tell you to stay home.
Now tell me... how freakin' great are the road crews? My drive in on the Beltline this morning was effortless. I've said it before , but it needs to be said over and over again. You people ROCK! I've lived all over the country, but I have NEVER seen major roadways like the beltline cleared so quickly afer a major storm.
Finally, thanks to our friends Sims and Maggie of Harmonious Wail for braving the storm and posting these video's. Maggie almost makes it sound fun!
You gotta love the internet! A friend sent me some of these photos in an email last week and I just had to share it with you.
This one is for the " clever" do it your-selfer: click here for more pics
I love Thanksgining dinner, but I hate the calories. I mean, really, who wants to eat a 3,000 calorie meal?
The turkey is healthy, so that's cool. Veggies can be steamed ( forget the green bean casserole this year) Stuffing can be made with whole wheat bread and sweet potatoes can be made even sweeter with pineapple instead of yummy mini-marshmallows. But what about the pumpkin pie? You can't skip that, right? Well you can if you follow this easy recipe I found on line.
Pumpkin Pie Tartlets                                                        Â
 16 (2 1/2-inch) foil baking cups
Nonstick cooking spray
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 (15-ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12-ounce) can NESTLî CARNATION® Evaporated Fat Free Milk
1 cup fat free whipped topping
12 small gingersnap cookies, broken into 1/4-inch pieces
Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Place baking cups on baking sheet with sides. Spray each cup with cooking spray.
Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger and salt in small bowl. Beat egg whites in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Spoon 1/4 to 1/3 cup of mixture into each prepared cup.
Bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until knife inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Top each with whipped topping and gingersnap crumbs.
Prep: 15 min | Cooking: 25 min | Cooling time: 1 hrs refrigerating | Yields: 16 servings
Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/16 of recipe): Calories 100 Calories from Fat 10; Total Fat 1g; Saturated Fat 0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 135mg; Carbohydrates 20g; Dietary Fiber 1g; Sugars 15g; Protein 3g
If you're like me, you love a great guitar solo. I once asked Warren Haynes ( Allman Bros, The Dead, Gov't Mule) what it was about the electric guitar that moved people so, and he said it was because the guitar can mimic human voice better than any other instrument.
Everyone has their favorites, Mine include Frank Zappa, Warren Haynes, Jeff Beck, Richard Thompson, John Fogerty and Mark Knopfler, just to mention a few. If you'd like to learn more about your favorites, or want to ge turned on to a new artist, check out this awesome website!
click here for lots of guitars!
It's pumpkin carving time again. I'm not so good at this. First, I can barely remove the top properly to even begin carving. Then I hate scooping out all the pumpkin guts, although I DO like to roast the seeds. If you ever saw one of my carvings, you'd ask me how old the little child was that did it and were they even old enough to handle a sharp knife.
And that leads me to some carvings I found on line. First, for the hot dog lovers..Â
For the anniversary of Lady Liberty's dedication! And finally, one that totally blows my mind!
Let's hope no one takes THESE pumpkins out and throws them on the ground.
Have fun carving!
Eric Hutchinson was at the Majestic Theater yesterday, and we was nice enough to allow us to invite some listeners to a private sound check party. He's so charming and funny and talented. We all had a ball and he even had people sing Happy Birthday to me. And we  LOVED the cupcakes from Daisy Cafe and Cupcakery.Â
We also loved to hear him sing JUST FOR US!
( Here he is singing for some other people, but we can make believe it was yesterday)
I have a birthday on Sunday. A BIG birthday. No, I won't tell you which one, but suffice it to say, I remember when Eisenhower was president.Â
I have some " wonderful" friends, one of whom sent me this list of things that go better with birthdays.
Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
People call at 9 PM and ask, " Did I wake you?"
Things you buy now won't wear out.
You can eat supper at 4 PM
You sing along with elevator music
You no longer think of speed limits as challenges
You have heated arguments about pension plans
You're secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
So, for all the aging baby boomers...enjoy every minute you have, and dance like you're at a Grateful Dead concert.
Ever hear of living room concerts? It's a tough world out there for emerging artists and one way they get their music heard is to play an intimate concert in someone's living room! Recently one lucky person got to host Brett Dennen at their house.
Now I am looking for someone to host a concert with a special musician friend of mine, Ben Arthur. I love this man's music, sense of humor and amazing smile! Here's some quote from people who know music:
"Ben Arthur's got the looks and hooks of John Mayer "
Rolling Stone
"Ben Arthur croons like Duncan Sheik if he had a pair â shoegazing, cankicking, and remorseful only in retrospect"
CMJ
Ben's sense of humor is typified by this song:
Ben was planning on being in town November 4, but the original plans fell thru, which is why he approached me to see if wanted  to host. So if you're interested, just drop me a quick line and I'll hook you up with Ben.
Oh yeah, and I'd like to be invited.
Here are the songs played on Monday, Sept 28:
It was sensitive singer-songwriter night on the 9:00 news!
Joshua James: " Coal War" album title is Build MeThis, available now.
Matthew Perryman Jones: " Save You" album title is  Swallow the Sea, available now.
 Grant-Lee Phillips: " Little Moon", album title is Little Moon, available Oct 13.
Learn more about this artist here!
Here are the songs played on Thursday, September 24:
Parachute: " Under Control" album title is Losing Sleep, available now.
Edwarde Sharp and the Magnetic Zero's: " Home" album title is  Up From Below, available now. If you are an Andrew Bird fan, I think you will like this song.
Don Ray Band: " Boom Chika Wah Wah" album title is On Top of the Heap, available now
See ya later! We're on vacation and heading back to Bethel NY for the 40th Anniversary of the Woodstock festival. As I recently blogged, I missed the music in 1969, but still had a great time.
Back in 1994, for the 25 th Anniversary, the " official" concert was held in Saugerties NY with contemporary artists. There WAS supposed to be another concert back in Bethel with many of the original artists, but that eventually got cancelled. I went anyway, as did thousands of people. There was no music, but it did rain ( of course) and people were sliding down the same mud pit as they did in 1969. Once again, not hearing any music except for the Traffic CD I had in the car.
So  it's 40 years later and NOW I finally get to hear Jefferson Airplane, Canned Heat, Big Brother and the Holding Company and even Country Joe! That's Saturday night.
Then Sunday, it's off to one of the coolest venues in the country, Saratoga Performing Arts Center ( SPAC ) to catch the last show of the summer tour for Phish. When my tickets arrived in the mail I almost had a heart attack, because they are in the 2nd row, seats 1 and 2.
Oh yeah, then on the way home, we're visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Are we going to a good vacation? You betcha! <wink>
Like the rest of the world, I was shocked to hear about Michael Jackson. Shocked, but not surprised. This is a story that was bound to end the way it did. What I've been reading today was major perscription drug abuse and anorexia. Not a healthy combination.
So who  is to blame?  Of course Michael, but he never had a chance at all.
The talent was obvious from the start. But supporting a large family is just too much for a little boy, a sad little boy who spent his formative years on stage and in the spotlight. This is a man who never stopped being a child and now he won't ever be an old man.
I have read stories of emotional and physical abuse he suffered as a child and I think this led to his facial surgeries. I read somewhere that he started looking more and more like this father and didn't want to see Joe Jackson's face when he looked in the mirror.   So the surgeries began and kept coming. Who knows what the future would have been like if he had been able to enjoy his childhood a little.
I have also been reading things people have saying about Michael being a pedophile. No one really knows what happened, but in my opinion, mentally he was still 10 years old and his time spent with children was a way to experience the childhood he never had.
Probably no one will ever know the real story, but it ends so sadly.
OK... so I'm a Phish Phanatic and proud of it.Â
I love music and have seen so many concerts I don't even remember some of them. But one that will be seared into my memory forever was my very first Phish concert in 1994.
Some background first. The first artist that I made sure to see every time he came to the area was Frank Zappa. His music was complex, witty and unique. Some of his earlier albums were so advanced ( or , statistically dense) that I didn't appreciate them until years later.
When he died in 1993, it left a big hole in my musical life.
Then I saw Phish. At the time, I was not familiar with their music, but had read a lot about the crowds they attracted, ie, the neo-hippie. So I was curious to check it out for myself. The newspapers were right... all I saw were dreads and Birkenstock and the scent of patchouli . It was quite the flashback!
Then they started playing! WOW! It didn't hurt that the 3rd song they played was a Zappa instrumental " Peaches en Regalia". I was hooked! ( no pun intended)
I saw them every time they were in my area, and this turday will mark  my 13th show. For the kids who follow the tours, 13 sounds like a small number, but to someone like me who actually had to go to work every day, it is a lot of concerts.
Saturday I bring Tim to experience HIS first Phish concert. I know he will love it! CAN"T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!
If you are a night owl, make sure you check out my new show, Professor Gabby's Night School from 10PM -2 AM each weeknight.
Tonight we will feature the Bonaroo Music Festival going on this weekend with songs from previous shows as well as songs from the funniest mockumentary since Spinal Tap.  Les Claypool from Primus does for jam bands what Spinal Tap did for metal. Electric Apricot, Quest to Festeroo is about a band heading to a festival, like Bonaroo. Be listening for songs like " Hey, Are you Going to Burning Man"? as well as cool songs from Bonaroo. Have you heard Guster cover Talking Head's ( Nothing But) Flowers? It's way cool. Check it out! Don't forget! Every weeknight from 10PM-2 AM... Let me know if you want to hear something special.
My mother was born the same year as Shirley Temple, and since she loved theater and had a beautiful singing voice, she totally identified with Shirley.
One of my favorite books growing up was a collection of stories from Shirley Temple movies likie Heidi, The Little Colonel , Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and The Little Princess. Â The book had a lot of photos from all the films and it was a lovely book to read and savor.
So of course, I have seen all these movies, including the riches to rags and back to riches story of the Little Princess.
This one from 1939:
But last night, I saw a version I had never seen, made in 1995, which took the story and set it in NYC. I was totally captivated once again by this story . You remember, the little girl, adored by her father is sent to boarding school while her father fights WWI. She is very popular at school and everything is rosey until they get word that her father had been killed in the war and she becomes a servant at the scbool... yadda yadda yadda... happy ending.
It reminded me of my mother and it made me smile. I guess that was my day after Mother's Day gift sent from above.
It's almost a week since we had to say good-bye to our sweet kitty Mikey. Our remaining cat, Piggy is very social and I see him wandering around the apartment looking for Mikey. I guess we ought to adopt a new cat soon.
 As you can see, they both spent a lot of time hanging out together. Now we are trying to decide to get another male or a female. Piggy is at least 12 years old and quite a slug. Do we get a younger cat to energize Piggy, or another older animal that needs a good home? It's a hard decision to make.
I went over to the Humane Society's web page where they have photo's of animals looking for good homes. I DID see one totally adorable little female that I think might fit in quite well. Isn't she a cutie pie?
Of course, it will be a joint decision between Tim and myself. We'll keep ya posted.
Mikey, the orange kitty came into my life in 2000. After the loss of my younger brother to cancer and my mother to a broken heart less than 18 months later, my Dad was bereft in the family home of upstate NY.
I had lived in Madison for years and was anxious to return, so I moved back and shortly after, dad followed. I was always a daddy's girl, so it was an honor for me to help him through his latter years, which included senile dementia. He never lost his personality, but ended up as a terrible flirt with no " self-edit" button.
He was a handful. And lonely in his senior residence. So I got him Mikey, named by dad after my late brother Michael.
The first time dad said he was excited to get back home to see the cat, I knew we had done the right thing. Mikey sat on dad's lap for years being petted and pampered. When he could no longer care for the cat, I brought him home with me. Big Piggy didn't mind and we were a 2 cat household.Â
About 10 days ago we noticed Mikey seemed lethargic and looked like he was losing weight.
End result, fatal liver damage caught too late. I thank the McFarland Animal Hospital.
He went peacefully.
I'm still crying.
RIP you sweet kitty
It was a semi lazy, semi production weekend and I' m pretty confident we will soon have Spring.
I grew up in a small town in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate NY, and spent a lot of time playing in the woods. I loved the smells, the sounds, the peaceful feelings. Living in a dying resort area, we used to sometime stumble upon abandoned properties where the swimming pools were slowing returning to nature. It was sad knowing they represented a recent time gone by.Â
But it never made me kneel on the ground wailing and gnashing my teeth,
But that's what this group of environmental activists did. Before you get all up in my face, I am all for conservation, sustainability and living in harmony, But these people, IMHO carriy it a bit too far. You judge.
My kitty Mikey is sick with liver disease. He's the yellow one:
We got this sweet cat to be a companion for my father and he did his job very well. I inherited him when Dad was no longer able to care for him. As you can see from the photo, he's a orange cat, so we didn't really notice that his ears had turned yellow from jaundice. But we DID notice he was a little lethargic and seemed to have lost weight.
The vet confirmed our suspicions, and said an ultrasound and a biopsy would tell the final tale.
That would cost me $700 and as much as I love this little cat, that's just out of the question. So we are medicating him and hydrating him. Did you koow  that you could add fluids just under the cat's skin and it will absorb into their body? He looked a little weird after the vet did it, with a little pouch of fluids near his belly.
This cat is a living connection  to my father, so I sure hope he pulls through.
I try to be optimistic...wish us well please.
If you're like me, you probably have several drawers full of concert T-shirts that you don't know what to do with.
Since I don't believe in throwing away those kind of memories, I asked my friends mother, Deeana, to make me a quilt from my old Phish T-Shirts. I think she did a great job!
The verdict came the other day.. Phil Spector guilty of second degree murder for the death of Lana Clarkson in 2003. Sad news, but not completely unexpected.
Phil Spector is/was a producing genius. Here are some of the artists he worked with: Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon, The Beatles, Righteous Brothers, Leonard Cohen and his girl groups like former wife Ronnie Spector's Ronettes, the Crystals. His " Wall of Sound" was as recognizable as HIS, just like the Funk Brothers and their contribution to all those Motown hits.
But he was always a little crazy and stories of him pulling out guns are legendary; waving a hand gun at the recording sessions for John Lennon's Rock and Roll album, pulling a gun on the Ramones after 8 hours of recording the same opening chord to Rock and Roll HS, coming out on stage with 3 body guards with guns as he is to be inducted to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 .
Someone was bound to get hurt eventually. He faces 25 years to life in prison.
A very sad end to a strange man's story.
Tomorrow night my family will gather around the many tables at my cousin James' house for Passover Seder.  There will be a lot of people there.
My dad was the youngest of 9 children, so I have a LOT of cousins. Some of my first cousins were as old as my parents, so we always had many generations of family.
Here are some of the things I always associate with our family's Seders:
Playing MadLibs after dinner
Sitting at the kids table as a teenager to " supervise" and drinking sweet red wine on an empty stomach.
Everyone reading out loud very dramatically from the Haggadah ( the story of Passover)
My Aunt Beattie's matzo ball soup and brisket.
My mother's beautiful singing voice. SIGH
I hope you are spending your holidays with the ones you love.
I hate to go back on my word, but I've decided NOT to cancel Facebook.
The decision came when I discovered some people I have not talked to in almost 30 years! There is a group called  6 Degrees of Radio Separation, and as a radio gypsy in my younger years, I know tons of people all over the country.
So please ignore my blog where I denounced Facebook, and come be my friend.
Click here to be Gabby's friend.
You probably know by now that I am a MAJOR Phish Fan. I first saw them in 1994, and by the third song, I was totally hooked. So when I heard about a special 2 day Phish festival just 90 minutes from where I was living, I was dying to go. The only problem...camping and lots of Phish music. To me that sounded ideal, but I couldn't get anyone to go with me, so I missed out on The Clifford Ball.
They called it The Clifford Ball after an aviator by that name, and over 70,000 people were there, making it the biggest Phish concert at that time and the best attended rock concert of 1996. AND I MISSED IT!
HOWEVER, they have just released a 7 DVD set of the entire event, with lots of special features in the packaging, like stamps and postcards! Oh yeah, and the music... it's always about the music.
Enjoy this taste from the DVD.
Â
I'm back from a week's vacation ( more about getting caught in a blizzard in Denver later), and have been catching up on " my shows" on the DVR. Yesterday I got to watch American Idol for Motown Week. On Thursday's results show, Smokey Robinson did a duet with Brit blue-eyed soul singer Joss Stone. In case you missed it, here it is:
This performance reminded me of an exchange I had with Ricky Fante several years ago.
Remember Ricky Fante? Probably not. He had a minor hit with his song " It's Not Easy" and I was a MAJOR FAN! In 2004 I was invited to see him open for Al Green . I was totally stoked... UNTIL I saw him perform. He must have been stoned or drunk or something, because he only sang 3 songs in his 45 minute set and spent way too much time handing the mic to the audience. I have no idea what he was doing, and neither did anyone else.
When the show was over... and this is the part I wanted to tell you about...I go up to him in the lobby and tell him what I big fan I am and that I was playing his song on the radio. As soon as he heard that, he started bad mouthing Joss Stone, saying that a young white girl can't sing soul music because she was not a black man.
It was a very strange comment to make.
Well, his album went nowhere but Joss was singing with Smokey on American Idol...I thought it was a little ironic, don't 'cha think?
Here's Ricky doing You Send Me:
So this might be the quickest Facebook cancellation ever. I never realized how much work it was going to be updating the page, keeping up with correspondence and seeking out new friends. I like my MySpace page because I get turned on to new artists just about every day!
But one thing about Facebook appealed to me: 25 random things. So here are mine, since it won't be posted to Facebook anytime soon.
Â
I lived on a chicken farm until I was 9
I canât carry a tune
I have never been in a car accident
I like reading poetry out loud
I canât spell very well
I never went to my HS prom
I have a Masters Degree in radio and television
Snakes freak me out
I love cave tours
I have more Van Morrison on my ipod than any other artist
Iâm shy at parties, but great one on one
Iâm a good cook
My first concert was Peter Paul and Mary
I made Frank Zappa laugh
Iâve broken a toe, an ankle and a non-weight bearing leg bone
Iâve only seen the Grateful Dead 2 times
I took piano lessons for 7 years
I used to drive a restored bright red 1966 Chevelle
Spicy food? Sign me up
I grew up 20 minutes from site of original Woodstock Festival
No one wants to play Trivial Pursuit with me
 Iâm usually reading 2-3 books at the same time
Iâve never been to a professional baseball or football game
Iâm very impatient
A dream vacation would be driving the entire old Route 66
Yesterday when I talked about visiting Colorado, I totally forgot about the camping trip many years ago. I think I am supressing the memory!
Anyway, I was married to Dave, and since neither of us were experienced campers, we borrowed a lot of gear from friends. We were living in Oklahoma City at the time, so we entered Colorado from New Mexico. I saw on the map a " short cut" that took us over the mountain instead of around, so up and up we went. Mountain on one side, cliff on the other. We are almost to the peak, when we come across a small tree that has apparently, just fallen over the road. We couldn't go over it, we couldn't get around it and we certainly couldn't turn around or back down the whole mountain. So Dave takes the borrowed hatchet and he's going to chop the tree. With each chop, the hatchet head flew off and had to be attached again. But he finally got it cut and we made it to the campground.
It was early June and we were the only tent campers, and just a few RV's. We settle into our site and turn in early. During the night, we smelled the campfire burning again, even though we thought we had extinguished it. In addition, it sure was windy, and I remember commenting that it " sure gets windy in the Rocky's".
The next morning we go to check out and discover a tornado had passed over the campground, and the owners forgot they had people in a tent! The wind blew a giant boulder into the door of the laundry area!
Needless to say, I have not camped in Colorado since.
It's almost vacation time again in the Parsons' household. This year we are driving to Denver to visit with Tim's daughter Katie. She just turned 25 and I have never met her. I'm a little nervous, but I think we'll get along well because she is a dreadlocked community activist vegan, so I think she'll like this aging hippie!Â
I've been to Boulder a couple of times, but those were for conventions, so there wasn't a lot of time for sightseeing. I can't wait to spend time in the mountains and visit a hot spring.
Â
I have my ipod loaded with my favorite songs, have a total of 4 different books and sent away for a trip tik from my auto club. I think I have everything I need for a nice long car trip.
Is it Saturday yet?
Don't you love good card tricks! My uncle was a magician and I was always so excited when he came to visit. I bought magic kits for kids, but I could never get them to work. I guess you need some kind of manual dexterity.
So I like the on line games, where all you have to do is click.
Try this several times..It works ALL THE TIME!
card tricks
Think you know how they do this???? Comment below. I'll let you know if you are right.
It's finally U2's Day, and it got me to thinking about the amazing songs this band has recorded over the years. This isn't a one hit wonder band, but one that keeps writing world class songs year after year after year.
I have a few favorites, Vertigo and Pride ( In the Name of Love). What's your favorite? Maybe it's the same as a rock star.Â
Rolling Stone Magazine asked artists what their favorite U2 song was.
Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie cites the entire " War" album. Duffy loves the Joshua Tree album, and even had it on a cassette! Rob Thomas, who is no stranger to writing a well crafted pop song, said U2 was " The Greatest Band Ever!" and loves " All That You Can't Leave Behind" and " Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own", which is also Taylor Swift's favorite.
Yes, even the country stars love U2... Carrie Underwood loves ' Beautiful Day".
So enjoy the cool U2 songs today, and don't miss the U2 Radio Takeover at 8. It ought to be a blast!Â
 Oh, doesn't Bono look like deadpan comic Stephen Wright?
Tomorrow is U2's day as radio stations all across North America get ready to turn over their airwaves to U2. Some very lucky people will be in Chicago to witness this cool event. I'm pretty jealous that Pat Gallagher will be there, as I have never seen U2 perform live, except on TV. The closest I have gotten was a T-Shirt that looked like a WI license plate that read I SAW U2 ( I worked at a radio station that promoted the concert). Y'know, " My radio station promoted U2 and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt!"
I love when bands do cover songs, so I surfed over to You Tube to see what I could find, and came across the band covering Dylan's ' Knocking on Heaven's Door". The most awesome thing in this clip is the young guy that came up on stage from the audience to perform this with U2.
Pretty lucky guy wouldn't you agree?
This is a very happy day in the world of Phish Phans! Tonight marks the first of 3 sold out concerts in Hampton VA!
Of course I plan to see the band when they come to Alpine Valley this summer, but that doesn't take away any jealousy I am feeling for the lucky thousands in Virginia this weekend.
BUT, this is Phish, so you know they will be doing it right for ALL their fans. If you visit their website for live downloads, Live Phish, you can order all three shows as a free MP3 download, or pay for a FLAC file or a hard copy CD. Just leave your email address and they will let you know when the show will be available to download. Hopefully it will be tomorrow, since I"M WAY EXCITED!
Still more good news for the Phans, this week, a 7 DVD box set was released of the band's first 3 day festival, the Clifford Ball. Seven DVD's... Guess I know what Gabby will be doing this weekend!
What do you know about the day you were born? What day of the week was it? What were the popular songs that day? When was Easter that year? What about Mardi Gras? Under what native American Zodiac sign were you born? Who else shares your birthday? How many seconds old are you?
All this and more can be found just by entering your birth info at this website.
It's kinda cool! Birthday calculator
I am a diehard Frank Zappa fan. We are a breed apart from most. We are the ones who know this man is more than " Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and " Montana". We're the ones who KNOW his music is genius, the ones who rate his guitar work with some of the greatest. The ones who know he was very active politically and testified before Congress regarding censorship and album ratings. Most of the friends I still have from my college days are Zappa fans. I own at least 65 Zappa albums.
So it was with great interest that I learned of a new 3 CD set called Lumpy Money. Lumpy Gravy and We're Only in it for the Money albums PLUS a third disc of rare and unreleased pieces.
Rolling Stone's website has a version of a song from this collection that radio refused to play in 1968 because if was " too weird". You can judge for yourself by clicking here.
If you're not that familiar with Zappa, here is a video of him doing a song that would be my personal theme song, "Peaches En Regalia"
In the words of the man himself:
"Knowledge is not wisdom
Wisdon is not truth
Truth is not beauty
Beauty is not love
Love is not music
Music is Best"
This weekend is the annual trivia competition to benefit the Deerfield Public Library. It's held at the bowling alley in Cottage Grove. I'm totally stoked becuause it's so much fun. I love trivia and enjoy this competition because normally people won't play Trivial Pursuit with me, as they claim I memorized the answers. Highly unlikely, since I never even memorized the 7 times table in math! I just read a lot and remember stuff.
Unlike the famous Steven's Point competition, no reference books are allowed, so it all depends on what you know. In addition to 3 rounds of questions, there are 3 rounds of songs to name the artist and 3 pages of photos to identify. They are tricky, too, because a lot of the time the photo's are very old and hard to recognize. I totally love this event.
There are usually 30+ teams of ten, and the competition is fierce. Our team usually finishes in the top 10, but every year I vow THIS YEAR WE WIN!
WIsh me luck!
I don't have a Facebook page, but I am on MySpace. When I finaly decided to join a networking site, Facebook was primarily on college campuses, and while I FEEL like I am still a college student, well, that's WAAAAY in my past.
MySpace was more my speed since it was music intensive. So I created a page there. About a year and a half ago, I had 22 friends. I have since grown to 335 friends, most of whom are musicians I admire or have met. I've been turned on to some great new bands, have gotten friend requests from people like John Batdorf who used to be in a band called Batdorf and Rodney and a band called The Muggs who were on a TV show last summer " America's Greatest Band". ( I think that was the title to that silly show)
But on Sunday I got a request that kinda freaked me out! It was from Tim Buckley.
Tim Buckley! He passed away in 1975!!
I approved him because you don't want to anger the departed.
check out all the cool bands I love: myspace page
But, the question I pose is this: Should I also have a Facebook Page? What do you think?
This Sunday is the Grammy awards! This is one show I always watch, because unlike the Academy Awards or Golden Globes, I have actually heard of the nominees! When I was a kid, I went to the movies every weekend, but now, not so much. But when an awards show features music, I'm all over it.
So many artists that got first airplay on Triple M are up for awards, like Duffy and Jason Mraz. When I first heard " I'm Yours", I knew it was going to be a BIG hit. His nomination was no surprise to me.
I usualy have my favorites, but this year, it's quite a dilemma. I like too many songs in the same categories!
I can't choose Duffy over Jason Mraz, and what about Sara Bareilles?
So I decided, I want ADELE to win!
There should be some great performances, too, like U2, Sir Paul McCartney with David Grohl on drums, Robert Plant and Allison Krause, Stevie Wonder, Radiohead, Neil Diamond, and , of course, Carrie Underwood and Kayne West.
I can't wait.. someone's bound to say or do something controversial. Good times!
I love President Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia.
They seem so down to earth and real and I hope their life in the fishbowl won't be too hard on them. So I was pleased to hear that the company that makes Beanie Babies have decided to NOT name their first African American dolls Marvelous Maila and Sweet Sasha.
At first the company said the dolls were NOTÂ representations of the First Daughters, it was just that the company " liked the sound of the names".
Yeah, right.
So from now on, the dolls will be called Marvelous Mariah and Sweet Sydney, and all proceeds from the sale of the dolls will be donated to charity.
I like the sound of that!
I was listening to a news report on my way home from work yesterday and they were saying that Girl Scout cookies are feeling the effects of the economy, and some cookie boxes will hold fewer cookies than before and others will have smaller cookies.
That got my mind wandering to when I was a Brownie Scout :
I'm not going to tell you how long ago that was, but suffice it to say, it was quite some time. So I was pleased when I remembered ALL THE WORDS to the Brownie Smile song:
I Have something in my pocket
that belongs across my face.
And I keep it very close to me
in a most convenient place.
I'm sure you'd never guess
if you guessed a long long while
So I'll take it out and put it on
It's a Great BIg Brownie Smile!
THEN I found THIS on the You Tubes. Scouting has come a long way!
Did you know the White House has a large collection of vinyl albums? If you thought about it, you'd probably expect it to include artists like Pat Boone the Carpenters and John Denver. And you would be right.
But the collection also includes albums like " Let it Bleed" , " Never Mind the Bullocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" Led Zeppelin IV, and even Captain Beefheart's " Trout Mask Replica".
Back in 1979, according to Rolling Stone Magazine, John Hammond was asked to update the library from the John Denvers to the Rolling Stones, and now the official White House library has over 2,000 albums.
With Barack Obama being the first "Blackberry" president, I wonder if he considers vinyl albums old-fashioned! I don't know what he has on his ipod ( I'm sure he has one, aren't you?), but he does love "Born to Run" and " Blood on the Tracks".
It's nice to know we have a leader who knows how to rock!
s
Seal is out with an amazing new album of soul covers, ranging from James Brown's " It's a Mans Mans Man's World" to Otis Redding's " If You Don't Know Me By Now" and Curtis Mayfield 's " People Get Ready".
Why an album of soul covers? As Seal put it, "...you can be listening to a song 1,000 times and then you hear it one time and it means something completely different". The song was Sam Cooke's " A Change is Gonna Come"
That's the song that opens this 12 song album. I love the arrangements on this album ( even if there are a little too many strings foir my taste) . Here's Seal performing " People Get Ready"
January 20, 2009. I never thought it would get here. Of course I had to stay home and watch TV all day. I knew I'd never get any work done anyway.
It was an incredible thing to watch. Over two million people ( and I just heard on TV," no arrests" ) and everyone smiling...everyone cheering...everyone waving American flags...everyone loving one another. It was like Woodstock with politics. And in a way ( at least to this aging hippie) it is the culmination of ideals fought for so many years ago. And Aretha, too! I laughed, I cried. My BFF, Liane Hansen of NPR fame had tickets to the parade. Right after the oath of office she calls. " I'm crying", " Me, too" " I'll call you later" "Bye"
The children were totally adorable, especially Sasha. I love this family.
Anyway, President Obama has a big job ahead of him. I 'm excited about the future.
Here are the songs played on Wednesday Jan 15
Saffire the Uppity Blues Women " Nothing in Your House" album title Havin' the Last Word, available Jan 27
Bacon Brothers " Go My Way (the ipod song) album title New Year's Day, available now
A.C. Newman "The Palace at 4AM" album title Get Guilty, available Jan 20
Man, it's cold, but you don't need me to tell you that. I have to admit, I prefer extreme cold to extreme heat. At least when it's cold, you can bundle up in layers to stay warm. You can curl up under a blanket on the couch, but that's not the most convenient thing because your hands are usually under that blanket. Here's where the Snuggie comes into play. I now have 4 Snuggies. Here;s how this happened.
I was watching the commercial for the Snuggie and snarking on it while it was playing. OOOO Look. Snuggies! OOOOO they come with a book light.
Tim was in the other room and apparently heard me because the next thing I know, he tells me he's ordered them. The TV offer comes with 2 Snuggies and book lights and he accidently doubled THAT order. So now we have FOUR Snuggies coming to our house. Of course, since the wind chill is in negative double digits, they have not yet arrived. Tim says they will get here in May. I think he was joking.
Iâm a blues jeans kinda gal, but for two weekends every January, itâs all about fashion!
Bridal fashion that is.
No, I donât get married every year. (Iâm not Elizabeth Taylor or Zsa Zsa Gabor) Every year I am the commentator for the big Bridal Show in Madison and in Milwaukee.
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Iâve been doing this for almost 20 years and look forward to it every year. I get to work with the same models from Chicago, the same DJ from Milwaukee and Pat and Larry Brady from Joy Publications.  Over the years, Iâve come to know a lot about the world of weddings and the gowns are always so beautiful that they make me want to get married all again. It does crack me up though, working with models and others in the world of fashion because I am the least fashion forward person I know. Now, if it were fashion BACKWARD, my tie dye wardrobe would work! But I DO get to get dressed up a little for the show. One day I wore my velvet top with the shiny butterflies, and the next day, my red velvet top. Since Iâm only seen from the waist up (like the TV people) I DO wear black jeans.
So one weekend down, and one weekend in Milwaukee to go! Canât wait.
Here are the songs played on Monday Jan. 12
Sam Roberts " Them Kids" album title Love at the End of the World, available Feb. 17
Eric Hutchinson " OK, It's Alright With Me" another song from Sounds Like This
Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel " Hesitation Blues" album title Now Playing! Willie and the Wheel, available Feb. 3
If you were playing along yesterday and got stymied on a few of them, I have the answer key!
Being in Wisconsin, you probably got 11= P on a FBT. Eleven Players on a Football team , and maybe #7, 88- PK.
Eighty Eight equals Piano Keys. But what about this one ...13= S on the AF
If you need the answers, just drop me a quick email and in the words of Sarah Palin, "Â I'll get them to ya"
If you were playing along yesterday and got stymied on a few of them, I have the answer key!
Being in Wisconsin, you probably got 11= P on a FBT. Eleven Players on a Football team , and maybe #7, 88- PK.
Eighty Eight equals Piano Keys. But what about this one ...13= S on the AF
If you need the answers, just drop me a quick email and in the words of Sarah Palin, " I'll get them to ya"
Ever see puzzles like this? I love things that make me think, so see how many of these you can get. I gave you a start on the first 3.
I admit, I haven't been able to figure them ALLÂ out yet...but I will keep trying!
Example: 16 = O in a P Answer: 16 = ounces in a pound1. 26 = L of the A / Letters of the Alphabet 2. 7 = D of the W / Days of the Week3. 1001 = A N / Arabian Nights4. 12 = S of the Z5. 54 = C in a D (with J)6. 9 = P in the S S7. 88 = PK8. 13 = S on the A F9. 32 = D F at which W F10. 18 = H on a G C11. 90 = D in a R A12. 200 = D for P G in M13. 8 = S on a S S14. 3 = B M (S H T R)15. 4 = Q in a G16. 24 = H in a D17. 1 = W on a U18. 5 = D in Z C19. 57 = H V20. 11 = P on a F B T21. 1000 W that a P is W22. 29 = D in F in a L Y23. 64 = S on a C B24. 40 = D and N of the G F25. 76 = T in the BP
Christmas is just a few days away and itâs already Chanukah!Â
We celebrate both holidays at our house. We got a small tree this year, so we could put it up on a table. My darn cat Mikey practically destroyed a tree several years ago, so now he doesnât have a chance to get near itâ¦hopefully.
Last night I lit the first night of Chanukah candles.  And I tried something I havenât done in decades! I made, from scratch, potato pancakes ( latkes). I usually make it from a Manischewitz  mix, but my grocery store stopped selling that brand and I donât like the other one, so there we were, grating potatoes and onions, adding the egg and flour and frying them up nice and crispy. Tim said they were delicious, but I think I left out something, because they just werenât right.
I guess I have a few more days of Chanukah to try again.
I have the perfect gift for the rock and roller in your lifeâ¦vintage concert tickets!
Wolfgangâs Vault is a website where you can find concert related items from Bill Grahamâs Fillmore. You can listen to full concerts; buy vintage posters, t-shirts and concert tickets. Â You can spend hours and hours just looking at everything on this site! Wolfgangâs Vault
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This Woodstock ticket will set you back $1,275, but there are definitely more affordable items as well. Especially since they are holding a 25% off sale thru Friday!
If anyone is rich, Iâd love an original Frank Zappa poster!
This year I did 99% of my holiday shopping on line. I love the convenience, avoiding the mall and getting packages delivered right to my door. Saving money is always welcome, too. Ever see a box where you are supposed to enter coupon codes and wondered where people got them? Well, hereâs a little tip. Just type the name of the store plus âcoupon codeâ and see what comes up!
I found a great website top start hunting for coupon codes. Click here!
Good luck and happy shopping!
I got an awesome phone call at home last evening, a cousin I havenât spoken to in about 40 years!
I was much closer to my fatherâs side of the family than my mothers, and over the years, kinda lost track of my cousins who grew up in Philadelphia. My cousin Rhona is 2 years younger than me, and I always looked forward to our family visits. Â In my eyes, she was beautiful and more sophisticated than I could ever be. Â You know the old country mouse/ city mouse thing.
ANYWAY, I almost dropped the phone when she told me who it was. After catching up, I learned that we had so much in common about the way we grew up once we left home. We exchanged info and promised to stay in touch, which I hope we do. One thing I know, a visit to Philadelphia is in my future.
Iâll bet you have some family members, or long lost friends who would LOVE to hear from you. Maybe the last time you talked to your old college friend you had a falling out⦠and Iâm sure you have at least one distant relative you havenât spoken to in years. I can attest from experience what a thrill it will be.
Did you enjoy yesterday's blog about Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings? Wasn't that a cool video? Oh, you didn't see it? Well, that's because computers and I didn't get along very well yesterday.Â
Sharon Jones, The Queen of Funk, dropped by yesterday to chat and play some music. It was great meeting her and I had blogged about her early in the day so you could get excited and go to the show at the Barrymore.
I wrote the blog, added the video, did all the steps to post it and then it says NO TEXT.. Yikes.. I do it again. Same Thing.
One more time... meanwhile it's like 30 minutes later, which is driving me totally crazy.
So I gave up.
I'll feel better after these photos. Thanks for indulging me, although I know you've been there too.
Holidays are picture taking time and with digital camera's, it's easy to delete the poor shots and try again. But back in the days of film, you had to wait to get your pictures back before you discover there was a weird light reflecting or something else technical that you didn't want.
And what about your old photos? Do you have some old pictures that are creased or damaged and wish there was some way to restore them?
Well, I found a very cool website that does JUST THAT! click here
Check THIS out!               Pretty cool!
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I'm already cranky and this is only the first day I had to scrape snow off my car in the morning. I know I should have a better attitude towards winter. I mean, I DO live in Wisconsin and have lived here for almost 30 years. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. But nooooo. I grew up in upstate NY where we had 4 distinct, 3 month seasons. Winter came in December, and was gone by late March. Now that's normal. But here... winter drags on forever. I never had to plug in the engine block on my car when I was living back east. It never really got that cold. Sure, there was a lot of snow, but last years 100 inches set the bar kinda high. SIGH. I used to ski when I was a kid but I was terrible at it and was always scared on the chair lift. I have no kids to play in the snow with and I think i'd look pretty silly making my very own snow fort. I also hate humidity, so don't tell me to move to Florida, cuz that ain't happening any time soon.
I'm not sure why Pete Yorn decided to name his new music project after a European cave dwelling aquatic salamander, but if he stops by to play us some songs in Studio M, we'll have to ask him.
The Olms is a collaboration between Pete Yorn and...
Today's song was written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. It was inspired by the 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago. No one was inspired by the song this morning. It was rejected by almost all the listeners.
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday...
It's a miracle that both Jonathan and KItty wanted to hear Barry Manilow this morning. They were not alone. Plenty of Fanilow's called in to vote yes. One caller claimed to have seen Manilow in concert 25 times!
I'm not sure why Pete Yorn decided to name his new music project after a European cave dwelling aquatic salamander, but if he stops by to play us some songs in Studio M, we'll have to ask him.
The Olms is a collaboration between Pete Yorn and...
Today's song was written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. It was inspired by the 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago. No one was inspired by the song this morning. It was rejected by almost all the listeners.
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday...
It's a miracle that both Jonathan and KItty wanted to hear Barry Manilow this morning. They were not alone. Plenty of Fanilow's called in to vote yes. One caller claimed to have seen Manilow in concert 25 times!
For me, the first show is always a challenge because it's the first time I will see the models and hear the music. I have no idea what the clothes will look like and what special things they have been planning. There's nothing like a dress rehearsal in front of hundreds of people to get a girl's adrenaline flowing.
But, boy, is it fun. See! I'm smiling!
I can't wait for next year to do it all over again.
 16 (2 1/2-inch) foil baking cups
Nonstick cooking spray
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 (15-ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12-ounce) can NESTLî CARNATION® Evaporated Fat Free Milk
1 cup fat free whipped topping
12 small gingersnap cookies, broken into 1/4-inch pieces
For the anniversary of Lady Liberty's dedication! And finally, one that totally blows my mind!
Let's hope no one takes THESE pumpkins out and throws them on the ground.
Have fun carving!
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We also loved to hear him sing JUST FOR US!
( Here he is singing for some other people, but we can make believe it was yesterday)
I have some " wonderful" friends, one of whom sent me this list of things that go better with birthdays.
Back in 1994, for the 25 th Anniversary, the " official" concert was held in Saugerties NY with contemporary artists. There WAS supposed to be another concert back in Bethel with many of the original artists, but that eventually got cancelled. I went anyway, as did thousands of people. There was no music, but it did rain ( of course) and people were sliding down the same mud pit as they did in 1969. Once again, not hearing any music except for the Traffic CD I had in the car.
So  it's 40 years later and NOW I finally get to hear Jefferson Airplane, Canned Heat, Big Brother and the Holding Company and even Country Joe! That's Saturday night.
Then Sunday, it's off to one of the coolest venues in the country, Saratoga Performing Arts Center ( SPAC ) to catch the last show of the summer tour for Phish. When my tickets arrived in the mail I almost had a heart attack, because they are in the 2nd row, seats 1 and 2.
Oh yeah, then on the way home, we're visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Are we going to a good vacation? You betcha! <wink>
  So the surgeries began and kept coming. Who knows what the future would have been like if he had been able to enjoy his childhood a little.
I have also been reading things people have saying about Michael being a pedophile. No one really knows what happened, but in my opinion, mentally he was still 10 years old and his time spent with children was a way to experience the childhood he never had.
Probably no one will ever know the real story, but it ends so sadly.
I love music and have seen so many concerts I don't even remember some of them. But one that will be seared into my memory forever was my very first Phish concert in 1994.
Some background first. The first artist that I made sure to see every time he came to the area was Frank Zappa. His music was complex, witty and unique. Some of his earlier albums were so advanced ( or , statistically dense) that I didn't appreciate them until years later.
When he died in 1993, it left a big hole in my musical life.
Then I saw Phish. At the time, I was not familiar with their music, but had read a lot about the crowds they attracted, ie, the neo-hippie. So I was curious to check it out for myself. The newspapers were right... all I saw were dreads and Birkenstock and the scent of patchouli . It was quite the flashback!
Then they started playing! WOW! It didn't hurt that the 3rd song they played was a Zappa instrumental " Peaches en Regalia". I was hooked! ( no pun intended)
I saw them every time they were in my area, and this turday will mark  my 13th show. For the kids who follow the tours, 13 sounds like a small number, but to someone like me who actually had to go to work every day, it is a lot of concerts.
Saturday I bring Tim to experience HIS first Phish concert. I know he will love it! CAN"T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!
 Les Claypool from Primus does for jam bands what Spinal Tap did for metal. Electric Apricot, Quest to Festeroo is about a band heading to a festival, like Bonaroo. Be listening for songs like " Hey, Are you Going to Burning Man"? as well as cool songs from Bonaroo. Have you heard Guster cover Talking Head's ( Nothing But) Flowers? It's way cool. Check it out! Don't forget! Every weeknight from 10PM-2 AM... Let me know if you want to hear something special.
But last night, I saw a version I had never seen, made in 1995, which took the story and set it in NYC. I was totally captivated once again by this story . You remember, the little girl, adored by her father is sent to boarding school while her father fights WWI. She is very popular at school and everything is rosey until they get word that her father had been killed in the war and she becomes a servant at the scbool... yadda yadda yadda... happy ending.
It reminded me of my mother and it made me smile. I guess that was my day after Mother's Day gift sent from above.
 As you can see, they both spent a lot of time hanging out together. Now we are trying to decide to get another male or a female. Piggy is at least 12 years old and quite a slug. Do we get a younger cat to energize Piggy, or another older animal that needs a good home? It's a hard decision to make.
I went over to the Humane Society's web page where they have photo's of animals looking for good homes. I DID see one totally adorable little female that I think might fit in quite well. Isn't she a cutie pie?
Of course, it will be a joint decision between Tim and myself. We'll keep ya posted.
About 10 days ago we noticed Mikey seemed lethargic and looked like he was losing weight.
End result, fatal liver damage caught too late. I thank the McFarland Animal Hospital.
He went peacefully.
I'm still crying.
RIP you sweet kitty
But it never made me kneel on the ground wailing and gnashing my teeth,
But that's what this group of environmental activists did. Before you get all up in my face, I am all for conservation, sustainability and living in harmony, But these people, IMHO carriy it a bit too far. You judge.
We got this sweet cat to be a companion for my father and he did his job very well. I inherited him when Dad was no longer able to care for him. As you can see from the photo, he's a orange cat, so we didn't really notice that his ears had turned yellow from jaundice. But we DID notice he was a little lethargic and seemed to have lost weight.
The vet confirmed our suspicions, and said an ultrasound and a biopsy would tell the final tale.
That would cost me $700 and as much as I love this little cat, that's just out of the question. So we are medicating him and hydrating him. Did you koow  that you could add fluids just under the cat's skin and it will absorb into their body? He looked a little weird after the vet did it, with a little pouch of fluids near his belly.
This cat is a living connection  to my father, so I sure hope he pulls through.
I try to be optimistic...wish us well please.
The verdict came the other day.. Phil Spector guilty of second degree murder for the death of Lana Clarkson in 2003. Sad news, but not completely unexpected.
Phil Spector is/was a producing genius. Here are some of the artists he worked with: Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon, The Beatles, Righteous Brothers, Leonard Cohen and his girl groups like former wife Ronnie Spector's Ronettes, the Crystals. His " Wall of Sound" was as recognizable as HIS, just like the Funk Brothers and their contribution to all those Motown hits. 
But he was always a little crazy and stories of him pulling out guns are legendary; waving a hand gun at the recording sessions for John Lennon's Rock and Roll album, pulling a gun on the Ramones after 8 hours of recording the same opening chord to Rock and Roll HS, coming out on stage with 3 body guards with guns as he is to be inducted to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 .
Someone was bound to get hurt eventually. He faces 25 years to life in prison.
A very sad end to a strange man's story.
There will be a lot of people there.
My dad was the youngest of 9 children, so I have a LOT of cousins. Some of my first cousins were as old as my parents, so we always had many generations of family.
Here are some of the things I always associate with our family's Seders:
Playing MadLibs after dinner
Sitting at the kids table as a teenager to " supervise" and drinking sweet red wine on an empty stomach.
Everyone reading out loud very dramatically from the Haggadah ( the story of Passover)
My Aunt Beattie's matzo ball soup and brisket.
My mother's beautiful singing voice. SIGH
I hope you are spending your holidays with the ones you love.
I've been to Boulder a couple of times, but those were for conventions, so there wasn't a lot of time for sightseeing. I can't wait to spend time in the mountains and visit a hot spring.
Â
I have my ipod loaded with my favorite songs, have a total of 4 different books and sent away for a trip tik from my auto club. I think I have everything I need for a nice long car trip.
Is it Saturday yet?
So I like the on line games, where all you have to do is click.
Try this several times..It works ALL THE TIME!
 Oh, doesn't Bono look like deadpan comic Stephen Wright?
Of course I plan to see the band when they come to Alpine Valley this summer, but that doesn't take away any jealousy I am feeling for the lucky thousands in Virginia this weekend.
BUT, this is Phish, so you know they will be doing it right for ALL their fans. If you visit their website for live downloads, 
All this and more can be found just by entering your birth info at this website.
It's kinda cool! 
 
