Fun Fun Fun

On This Date in 1976: Brian Wilson made his first appearance in 11 years with The Beach Boys in concert in Anaheim, CA at Anaheim Stadium. It was a co-headlining show with the band America – very appropriate to celebrate the country’s Bicentennial. And yes, I was there! Man, that was a great summer of an amazing year where I was lucky enough to attend concerts by the Who, Queen, Peter Frampton, Yes, Aerosmith and Jeff Beck, among others that my well-worn memory is now too hazy to recall. Happy holiday weekend, everybody!

Sounds Of Summer – The Very Best Of The Beach Boys
Price: USD 15.99

73 used & new available from USD 7.65

Break On Through

On This Date in 1971: Jim Morrison, legendary singer and lyricist for The Doors – and enduring sex symbol – was found dead in the bathtub of his apartment in Paris, apparently of heart failure. He was 27 years old. Also on this date in 1969: Brian Jones, former guitarist for The Rolling Stones was found dead in his swimming pool in Hartfield, England. He was 27 years old. For decades Jones’ death was ruled to be an accidental drowning, but the recent biopic, Stoned (which features great performances and excessive nudity – two thumbs up) shows an alternate version of his demise, based on the deathbed confession of his killer. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so be sure to add Stoned to your Netflix Queue or pick it up on Amazon.com for mere pennies.

Stoned (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Price: USD 9.99

61 used & new available from USD 1.99

On This Date in 1973: Brian Eno, synthesizer player for British art rock band Roxy Music, announced he was leaving the group after disagreements with singer Brian Ferry. For diehard Roxy fans interested in an analytical peak into the the groups early (pre-first album) ceative history, check out the book Re-make/Re-model: Art, Pop, Fashion and the Making of Roxy Music, 1952-1972 by Michael Bracewell available from Amazon.com at this link.

On this Date in 1980: Silicon Teens released their debut album, Music For Parties. It contained the singles, “Just Like Eddie,” “Memphis, Tennessee,” “Red River Rock” and “Judy In Disguise” – all covers, by the way. The group was the idea of Mute Records creator Daniel Miller and was not a real group. Studio musicians were brought in to play on the records. A group of teenage actors were hired to do the press interviews (though Frank Tovey of Fad Gadget was hired to “play” the lead singer). The “fictional” U.K. mod revivalist group was over by year’s end with one album and four singles. Daniel Miller, by the way, was the lead singer of The Normal (“Warm Leatherette”). I’m pretty sure I have this album on vinyl at home, somewhere.

Flashback Provided by the Nice Boys at The P5 Blogspot: This Day in 80s Music!

I just spent some serious face time with my pals HTML and The Google in order to update this website’s Interview Links Archive library.  Please enjoy.

Always Remember to Do a Preliminary Test Sniff Before Pouring in Coffee or on Cereal
(Image Source)

Earlier this morning, I visited the shared refrigerator in our office pantry with the intention of pouring lowfat milk onto my bowl of Peanut Butter Puffins cereal (from Trader Joe’s), so that I could enjoy a tasty and satisfying breakfast at my desk. Sadly, this was not to be, for the milk (poured from a carton which was nearly full) had gone sour and thus rendered my very delicious cereal completely inedible.  And though I was able to purchase a reasonably acceptable “replacement breakfast” from our cafeteria (a pecan Danish, three link sausages and several scoops of egg frittata product) it was just not the same as the sweet and crunchy Puffins which I love so well. Sadness.

Another thing that’s making me sad is the knowledge that today is our last day at the office to enjoy wanton access to FaceBook, Twitter and other Social Networking sites before a full-on block of all their URLs goes into effect on July 1. This is a ridiculously huge deal, as everybody here is pretty much addicted to keeping FaceBook open on your desktop all day long while still managing to do all your work. I hope I can live without the ability to send virtual cocktails, exotic fish and plants with human faces to all my friends between the hours of 7:30 AM and 6:00 PM. Sometimes, life just isn’t fair.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an invitation to attend a private viewing of Extreme Mammals; the latest new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Of course, there is no way I was going to turn down an invite to see anything labeled “extreme” – especially when it included free drinks! Yes! As part of the evening’s festivities, we were treated first to a wine tasting party (with snacks) held in the museum’s Hall of Ocean Life – the massive, bi-level exhibit room distinguished by the 94 feet-long model of a Blue Whale suspended from the ceiling. Extreme!

After an hour of heavy drinking, many of us staggered off to find the featured exhibit, located on the fourth floor. “Extreme mammals, please!” I announced to the elevator operator, so he would know where we were going; even though it was after hours, the museum was closed, and we really could only have been going to one place.

This is What a Whale With Legs Looks Like

The Extreme Mammals exhibit boasts, “the biggest, smallest and most amazing mammals of all time,” almost all of which are now extinct, so you are really not going to see them in a zoo.  Made up of fossils, bones, models and various recreations, the exhibit  includes a lot of required reading (Extreme!). So, even though it was fun to be drunk while viewing the various mammals and their extremeness, I would not recommend being so out of it that you forget how to read, because then you would miss out on a lot

This Dude Was My Favorite

Extreme Mammals  runs through January 3, 2010 at the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, NYC.

Dormant for a decade now
We’re back to take another bow
You’ve heard us on the radio
Patched in though the years
And so you’d best be well prepared for us
Cos we can’t be ignored
It’s just modern music that we play
Tomorrow’s sounds from yesterday

Beat boys in the jet age
So sure in what we do
Beat boys in the jet age
And the beat is aimed at you

Foundations have been carefully laid
The preparations all are made
we’re sweeping all in front of us
Re-cycling the vinyl dross
You’d best believe we speak the truth
A finger on the pulse of youth
You’ll hear it in the pubs and parks
The rhythm of a nation’s heart

Beat boys in the jet age
Too restless to contain
Beat boys in the jet age
And the songs remains the same

Re-makes of a time goes by
Your contributes will testify
That this time round won’t be the same
This year’s chance your claim to fame
Concern yourself with making ground
Old and new has been re-found
You’ve seen the writing on the wall
You’ll soon discover that we’re all

Beat boys in the jet age
So sure in what we do
Beat boys in the jet age
And the beat is aimed at you

(Album released on this date in 1980!)

On This Date In 2002: Who bassist John Entwistle was found dead in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas one day before The Who were to kick off their 2002 tour. It was later revealed he died of a heart attack. Entwistle was 57 years old. You can read a collection of brief remembrances of John – including one from yours truly – written by the staff writers of Ink19 Dot Com at this link.

And…

Thanks, Allison!!