Glückliche geburtstag Herr Led Zeppelin.com Webmeister! Here's wishing you a rocking Celebration Day! I know nothing's perfect and some people bitch and moan, but you do a helluva job running this site and for that, I salute you, Sam. For all you do, this beer's for you! Cheers!

Wow! How did you find out that info? There's no information on his profile page. Wait...is his birthday on the 20th or 21st? I know you Aussies like to jump the gun.

^^^ Yes, Dee Dee, Neil Diamond still holds the record for most consecutive sell-outs at the Forum. Some ridiculous number like 12 or 14. He has a plaque in his honour outside the Forum. I posted a photo of it over in the Houses of the Holy(landmarks of Led Zeppelin) thread. I didn't see Neil Diamond at the Forum, but I did catch him at the Greek and you're right about the relationship between him and the audience. It was strangely entertaining and easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm. The last concert you went to was over 6 years ago?

^^^ Aha, a His n Her's set, eh?

^^^ I'm glad it was only an inch, Magic. I love your pre-Raphaelite hair. Blimey! How did I miss this auspicious occasion?!? Congrats on Priscilla's success, CP! I also see we think alike...in sex, food, posts, and smoke, it's quality over quantity.

Hey Dee Dee, which of the four nights did you see? I went the first night Oct. 18, then the weekend shows of Oct. 21 and 22. It rained the 22nd, and Axl ran around the entire track at the Coliseum during one song...I think "Paradise City". These were the infamous shows where G n R aired their dirty laundry regarding their drug use and other issues. The first night featured an epic rant by Axl and he called out Slash's heroin use before "Mr. Brownstone", saying these would be the last G n R shows if certain people didn't stop dancing with Mr. Brownstone. Axl then capped the night by falling off the stage. I remember thinking at the time that the pressure of opening for the Stones was getting to Axl. In contrast, the Stones came on like a well-oiled professional band. The third night featured a mea culpa of sorts by Slash, saying drugs wouldn't get in the way of the band...or something like that. They played a little better than the first night but still couldn't overshadow the Stones, who were much better on this tour than they had been in 1981. Much better set list, too. Of course, the ONE night I didn't go, Oct. 19, is the night Eric Clapton showed up to play with the Stones. Oh well, can't win 'em all. Tickets were something like $30. In comparison, the 1981 tour cost $15 and 1972 was around $7.

Sorry Slave...was delayed. I've cleared space now. My inbox had never been full before...my apologies to anyone who attempted to write and couldn't get through.

Ouch! Give the guy a break.

First, allow me to say to Ally, Knebby and others who seemed to have had enough and decided to leave: Merry Christmas to you and I hope you'll come back. You might have noticed that I have only posted in that shooting thread a grand total of ONE time...and that was on the first day, on page 4. You might find this hard to believe, but I don't post just to hear myself talk...especially on something I know nothing about. Maybe it's the inner-journalist in me, but when incidents like Sandy Hook happen, my instinct is to just watch, observe and listen. If you're too busy talking instead of listening, you're going to miss the story. Plus, the first hours and days of a tragedy are always going to be filled with rumours and misinformation. After I woke up Friday and first found out about the shooting, I posted my brief message and left it at that. After watching an hour or so of the news, I realized that all the facts wouldn't be known for some time, and so I turned it off and went about my day. I vowed not to return to the thread until after the weekend. There was nothing to say that wasn't said at the Columbine, Virginia Tech, Dark Knight Rises, and other shootings. I could pretty much predict all the gun arguments pro-and-con that would happen, all the misinformation posted, so it would be a waste of time and psychic well-being to dwell on it over the weekend. On Monday, I checked out the thread(it had grown from 4 pages when I posted to around 15 or so)...and my suspicions were confirmed. Although, to my surprise, some people I usually disagree politically with actually posted much that I agree with. TypeO and SAJ, for instance. But after reading only 5 or so pages, my brain started to hurt and the thread started to become the RH echo chamber. It's like he has 10 posts to everyone else's one...and it seems to be the same argument over and over. No matter what Knebby, Old Shep, SAJ, Melanie, Sagittarius Rising, Ally, fdm posted in rebuttal, RH would either ignore it or call people idiots or crazy. A rule of thumb in debates is the first person to resort to name-calling is the loser. So, after reading a few pages of that, I washed my hands of it. Knebby and everyone else are smart enough to argue their viewpoints for themselves, so I'm not adding my voice to the fray. I see it is now up to 30 pages...page 16 is where I left off...I'm not reading 14 pages of that. As another saying goes...better to remain silent and be thought a fool than speak and remove all doubt.

Sorry, StZ...I'll clear it out ASAP. Regarding turkey, I usually do either a ham or prime rib or some kind of roast for Christmas. Since my time on Thanksgiving is split between my vegan dinner and my regular dinner, it's all become too much for me to handle, so I let my friend handle the turkey. But from my experiences, the length of cooking time comes down to the size of the bird and the method: roasting, deep-frying, etc. That bacon idea from Gordo sounds like a good one; I hadn't thought of that before...will implement it the next time. One tactic we've been using for the past decade is to turn the turkey upside down on the roasting rack halfway through, letting the juices seep down into the breast area. And yes, letting the bird sit is important...although I generally let it sit for 1/4-1/3 the total cooking time.

It must require an epic amount of self-delusion to care about Axl and co. these days. Out of respect for Izzy, Duff, Slash and Steve, I refuse to call what Axl is doing 'G n R'.

How old is he now? Happy birthday Keef!

Just watch out for Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. Regarding the cake, Kate...did you forget to line the pan with foil? Did you have leakage? Any photos you wish to share? Cost Plus World Market made me happy today...this is a great place to pick up interesting presents for any kids or quirky friends on your Christmas list. I knocked off a whole bunch of people on my list...nephews, nieces, friends. And, as a bonus, after you're done shopping for others you can get yourself some wine and chocolate, as they have an amazing selection of good wines and chocolate from around the world...at very affordable prices. I've bought great French Bordeaux for $15 or less that would be $40-80 somewhere else. I'm rewarding myself right now with some Lindt Swiss chocolate.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I DO NOT shop online. I go out and shop in real stores, where I can see and feel the merchandise I'm buying. It amused me to read about everybody pre-ordering their "Celebration Day" online, only to have it not arrive on time, or for it to be damaged or defective or the wrong format. Meanwhile, I got it the day of sale with no hassle. I've seen too many of my friends and favourite stores struggle to survive against the monster that is Amazon.com. I refuse to be part of the problem by joining the herd. I will always support my local shops...especially during Christmas. Awww...thanks jb126 and Slave to Zep for your concern. You're right, it really isn't like me to be morose, but it's getting better. The rain stopped and I was able to get out and get some shopping done. Crossed a few names off the list. Melanie passing up coffee!?! Maybe the Mayans were right and we really are at the end of the world.

7 days until Christmas...I'm not even close to being ready. I'm just kind of dragging through the days, going through the motions. Not totally in Scrooge mood, just more a case of the blahs. Wonder how big our Christmas bonus will be this year?

Sounds like you work with some petty people. I mean, who even comes up with such a venal and useless idea as 'evil Secret Santa' in the first place? Next year, just shit in a box and give that as your gift...that'll teach 'em. Well, it's decided to start raining last night, and keep raining. Which means I won't be going to the Post Office...which means some people's Christmas packages will be late.

You just got here, Old Shep. Hardly enough time to make enemies already, isn't it? Hell, yours are among the few posts in the CT shooting thread that don't make my head spin like Linda Blair's. Slave to Zep: Congratulations to your little whippersnapper!

Nobody has mentioned Bill Wyman...is he playing? I thought both he and Mick Taylor were coming back for these shows? Everyone has mentioned Mick Taylor but nothing about Bill. Also, who is playing keyboards? Is it still that MOR tinkler Chuck Leavell? The Stones decline as a live band coincided with the loss of first, Nicky Hopkins, and then Ian Stewart as keyboardists. With the addition of Chuck Leavell and all the backing vocalists and extra musicians, their sound lost its nasty edge. It's not for nothing that one of the greatest Stones bootlegs is titled "Nasty Music"...it's from the 1973 European tour. "Crossfire Hurricane" is a must-see...we watched it Thanksgiving night after dinner, as a friend loaned us his DVD screener copy. Great footage and interesting comments from the participants. Best part is that it's wall to wall historical footage with either music or the comments on the audio. None of that boring "talking heads" crap...lots of unreleased stuff from the footage Robert Frank filmed on the 1972 tour. If you've seen "Cocksucker Blues", you know very little actual concert footage was used. Two thumbs up! Catch it on HBO or get the DVD for sure! Too bad there isn't a documentary like this for Led Zeppelin. Even better than "Crossfire Hurricane" is "Charlie Is My Darling", a rollicking and wild account of their 1965 tour of Ireland. I've had a bootleg VHS of "Charlie is My Darling" since the 80s...got it for $5 at a swap meet. Even in a high-generation blurry dub vetsion, it was amazing. But to see it in a crisp, digitally remastered print at the American Cinematheque's 60-foot screen was beyond awesome!!! YOU SIMPLY MUST SEE THIS MOVIE!!! Whether you are a Stones fan or not, it is essential just to see the beginnings of the Stones mania, and how wild and crazy the early Brian Jones-era Stones concerts were. People got their panties in a twist over what happened to Plant in Brazil recently. Ha! Wait til you see the unbridled teen chaos the Stones unleashed on this '65 tour! This film is also valuable for seeing the comraderie between the guys...especially amongst Mick and Keef and Andrew Loog Oldham. There's priceless footage of the guys getting drunk and taking the piss on the Beatles and Elvis Presley. There's also a scene where you see Keith and Mick hashing out what would become "Sitting on a Fence". It is these scenes that make it more clear how and why Brian Jones eventually became less essential and estranged from the band he created. I mentioned Andrew Loog Oldham. He is still, in my opnion, a very unsung figure of the 60s and even among Stones fans he seems to get overlooked or taken for granted. For example, I don't think he is accorded nearly the praise and respect that Brian Epstein gets as the Beatles' manager. But he was a very shrewd and dapper fellow...and funny, too. As a child growing up in the 60s listening to my dad's Rolling Stones albums, my first exposure to Andrew Loog Oldham was through his fascinating and sometimes barmy liner notes he wrote for those early albums. December's children indeed. But in "Charlie Is My Darling" you really get a sense of how important a role Andrew played in shepherding the Stones through the 60s and how attuned he was to what was happening in society and how to play the Stones against the Beatles. For "Charlie Is My Darling", two thumbs extremely high up! After the screening, the Cinematheque showed an interview with Andrew conducted by Dave Grohl that is part of the bonus material on the dvd. Sad to say, Dave is out of his depth in this interview and nothing of note is revealed. I would suggest watching "Charlie..." first, then "Crossfire...". But both of these Stones documentaries need to be seen by anyone who is a fan of rock and roll. And if you have a family member or friend who is a Stones fan, make sure these two dvds are under their Christmas tree.

^^^ Thanks Knebby...baking makes me thirsty. I'm making Christmas cookies for work(sugar cookies in Christmas shapes with red, green and white icing).

Don't worry Walter. Even if Madonna did, it's not something I would blame or begrudge Lady Gaga for doing also. This is the fault of the Stones...it's been their MO for the last 20 years. In their craven and desperate attempts to appeal to the younger generations and make it appear that they're still relevant and hip to the kids(this is why they hire models to populate the front rows of their concerts so Mick's ego is assuaged that young women still want him), the Stones never miss a chance to have whatever the female flavour-of-the-year is appear with them...usually on "Honky Tonk Women". Over the years, I have seen Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilara, Norah Jones, and now Lady Gaga join the Stones on stage. I wouldn't be surprised if Madonna also was on that list. Katy Perry should be next.

So why does it make you un-happy?

Thank you Missy, but no thanks. I worked briefly in a restaurant and it's not for me. Hours are too long and it's too stressful. I cook to relax and because I enjoy it...it calms me. When I worked at the restaurant it became a job and a mental drain. So, I'll just stick to cooking for me and my friends. No restaurant dreams for me.

Awww, that sucks Kate! How does your son feel about it? I'm making cookies...sounds like you could use one.

Scallops in hot garlic pepper sauce with linguine. Peas and butter.

Now we're talkin'! One of the greatest movies ever made. Not to sound like a troglodyte, but if you're a guy and haven't seen this movie, you should have your man-card revoked. Was going to see "The Hobbit" tonight, but a hectic day working left me too tired and so I decided to go home and stay in for the night getting presents sorted and wrapped.