My sympathies. Death is sad at any age, from any cause, but suicide is perhaps the most tragic, and one that leaves the friends and family behind to suffer the most. Whether a death is from natural causes, a illness, or murder, at least the "why" and "how" is usually answerable and there can be a sense of closure. But suicide doesn't give any closure...it leads to a whole set of questions, doubt, and guilt among the surviving loved ones. What signs did they miss? What could they have done to help? Why did the deceased choose death over life? That's the one that's usually the hardest to fathom. Most of us are wired to "want to live"...to survive at any cost. So when we hear of a person who chooses to end life, it seems so anathema, so alien to our way of thinking. The ironic thing is that most people who choose suicide think that they are ending all their problems but don't realize they are creating a new set of problems for the people they leave behind. I hope you have a good circle of friends, lipslikecherries, to lend support during this difficult time. Well said, ladies. I was at the "Hair" musical tonight and one of the most touching songs from the musical seemed apropos for this topic:

May I enquire as to what ratio of strawberries to lemons you use in your strawberry lemonade? Ok, this one is for all those non-Americans...like CP and CJW...who are always aghast at what Americans eat for breakfast. It was French Toast Friday for me earlier today. Sourdough french toast with Nutella spread between the slices and drizzled on top with whipped cream and powdered sugar. Side of bacon and large glass of water.

Not that I was worried, but your posts reassured me all the same. Thanks for the 411.

^^^Thanks. Unfortunately I lost my place and put it in the wrong thread...I thought I was in Random Thoughts. As you might surmise, I've had a few glasses of wine tonight.

Sorry Misty. Didn't mean to spoil your day or add to your worries. But like Pagefan55 said...it doesn't happen that often.

Plenty of passion here and given the crowds I have to deal with at the record shops and swap meets, I wouldn't mind a little less passion. At least when I'm trying to score a good deal on a record.

What is this crazy talk I hear about the Raiders talking with San Antonio? I swear, if Da Raiduhs move to San Antonio, that's it. I draw the line at the Mason-Dixon Line...no offense jabe, Walter, Deb, and other Southerners.

Thanks Reg. She should feel at home here in L.A. because lately there has been a flood of Aussies in town. In the past week, I've met about 15 groups or families from Australia...10 from Melbourne, 3 from Brisbane, and 2 from Sydney. Not to turn this thread all morbid, but remember Natalee Holloway?

Migraine or otherwise? Do you work/live in a loud environment...one where there is constant noise, machinery, etc.? No over-the-counter meds work for you? Hope you can manage until Tuesday. I gotta work tonight...hate working Friday nights.

What a coincidence...I recently received a petition in my e-mail from some watchdog group about the ebola crisis in SIerra Leone, Liberia, and other countries.

My Birthday Burger yesterday...ground sirloin/chuck blend, cooled medium-rare, Monterey jack cheese, bacon, sliced red onions, lettuce, avocado, tabasco sauce, mustard, thousand island, toasted bun. With onion rings and...wait for it CJW...several large glasses of water. Did an extra hard run this morning for penance, hehe.

Famous last words. As a beet lover I heartily give a big thumbs up! If she's making bread, does that portend Mrs. Walter is doing better? I hope so.

Damn, Reg, why didn't you let me know? I could have given her the Zeppelin tour, taken her record shopping, maybe even pick up a few Zeppelin bootlegs for her to send to you. Hope she enjoys her time with Disney. Did she check out the ORIGINAL Disneyland while she was in L.A.? I feel for you Misty. I hope she always travels with companions and NEVER ALONE. May she have a rewarding and educational experience. My friend is having a similar experience to yours...his sister has chucked everything, job and place in San Diego to go on some peace mission in Ghana. He's a tad concerned. You gotta admire their altruistic spirit, though.

Although I'm initially partial to LA 77 for obvious reasons, this is really a tough choice. Each show has amazing highlights to recommend it...each unique to that particular place and time. Even the so-called flaws that people point out were idiosyncratic in a way...part and parcel to each respective period. This requires Solomon-like judgement.

Welcome Metalgina! Glad you got the Super Deluxe boxes...I, and many others here did as well. If you go over to the Main Zeppelin Master Forum, that is where everyone is discussing the sets, posting pictures and revealing what numbered lithograph they received out of the 30,000 limited numbered editions. There are individual threads for each new remaster and other related threads. Check it out and post your input. It's on the cover of the hardbound book that comes with each Super Deluxe Box. The Led Zeppelin is die-cut right through.

BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY! Someone's got a BIRTHDAY! And that someone is Rick, whose gambling heart's hope springs eternal. Hey Rick, hope you enjoyed that Machado walkoff HR I arranged for your birthday present last night! Damn Angels can't beat your Os to save their lives. Enjoy your celebration day...I'm recuperating from mine.

Doing two of my favourite things: record shopping and going to a concert (The Muffs). I'm sure some drinking will be involved, as well. Wine most likely.

"Misfits" happens to be one of my favourite Kinks albums. If your voice is like Audrey Hepburn's or June Christy's, I won't mind. Frankly, this is embarrassing. In no way do I deserve a separate birthday thread...any birthday greetings for me can be posted on the birthday thread in the Meet n Greet section. You may find it hard to believe, given how passionate and prickly I can be with my opinions, but I am a very shy and private person who doesn't like the spotlight. I certainly don't think I warrant a thread above other members...I'm no better or special than any other member here. There are those here who think I have a connection with the mods and get special treatment and I'm afraid threads like this further their belief. But I am still touched and grateful for everyone's wishes. Thank you Kiwi for starting the ball rolling again. That is an AMAZING CAKE apantherfrommd! Sue, I am speechless...I had no idea. Lipslikecherries, TypeO, CJW, Disco Duck, reswati,ebk, Walter, Paul C, jabe, jb126, Ddladner, and anyone I forgot...MERCI BEAUCOUP! VIELEN DANKE! It's been a little hard to feel "happy" lately...but your cheer helps. A toast to you all.

^^^ Merci beaucoup jb! I'm afraid I was amiss in missing two fellow Zepheads birthdays...Melcórë and my fellow Jane's Addiction freak, Wolfman! Happy belated birthday fellow Leos! Party on...

Oh yeah, I love this show...once I got Godfatherecords "Rock Saint Louis Roll". When I first got EVSD's "St. Louis Blues", it didn't impress me as much as 2.12.75 or 2.28.75. But the improved sound of the Godfatherecords made me hear the St. Louis show in a new light.

First time I've weighed in on this thread, I think. But with the 35th anniversary of "In Through the Out Door" looming, I've got the brown paper bag on my mind. This is another case where I believe the thread title is misleading. "Dislike" is the wrong adverb, in my opinion. Just because ITTOD isn't beloved as much as "Physical Graffiti" or "IV" doesn't necessarily equate to it being disliked. Say you like ice cream. You may enjoy many flavours...chocolate, vanilla, rum raisin, cookies n' cream, strawberry, whatever. Now, there may be a flavour you love more than the others but you still like the other flavours...just not as much. But you don't dislike them. It is the same with me regarding Led Zeppelin albums. There is not one album of theirs I dislike. I may not love them all with equal fervor, but they each have their high points that always reward each listen. Some albums suit particular moods more than others...some more introspective and contemplative rather than raucous party albums. Is there a scientific study that posits the notion that ITTOD is the most disliked album of Led Zeppelin? Just from my own admittedly unscientific survey, none of the Zep fans I meet say in no uncertain terms that they hate ITTOD. One of my brothers ranks it his third favourite after "Presence" and "Physical Graffiti". I know several people who, if not their favourite, still have a sentimental attachment to ITTOD due to it being the first Led Zeppelin album they heard/bought. They weren't alone. I remember lining up early that August morning in front of Licorice Pizza on Van Buren in Riverside, waiting for the store to open so I could buy ITTOD the day it was released. Many others made the same pilgrimage...and kept on making it, for ITTOD was the #1 album for seven consecutive weeks. It pulled up the rest of Zeppelin's catalogue to the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart in its wake. I'm not blind to some of the album's flaws. The songwriting is uneven. It could be mixed better, especially with regard to Plant's vocals. You can barely decipher the lyrics. Which is okay for songs like "South Bound Saurez" and "In the Evening", but criminal for "Carouselambra", one of Plant's better and sharper lyrics. The songwriting may not be as consistent as previous albums, but I like all the various grooves the band experiments with, in particular "South Bound Saurez", "Fool in the Rain", "Hot Dog", and "Carouselambra". People complain about Jimmy being too laid back on ITTOD; that there's not enough guitars. First of all, Jimmy exhausted himself so completely with the intricate guitar work on "Presence", that he deserved to take a rest for the next album. Actually, after his (and Bonzo) dominance of "Presence", I kind of welcomed Jones and Plant asserting themselves the next time around. One of the things that endeared Led Zeppelin to me even more was the fact that the members weren't running off all the time making silly solo albums a la Kiss, the Who, and the Rolling Stones. That's because each member of Led Zeppelin was allowed to have his say...to contribute equally. Even so, I disagree with those who say Jimmy doesn't play enough, that his guitars aren't prominent enough on ITTOD. I think his playing is forceful when needed ("In the Evening"), playful ("Hot Dog"), and tastefully restrained ("All My Love") when necessary. After the technical showcase of "Presence", it was bracing to hear him unleash the solos of savage fury on "In the Evening" and "South Bound Saurez"...just letting it rip. His approach to "All My Love" is perfect, with the stately acoustic flourishes and those incisive wah wah scratches. I also love how Jimmy is playing around with his rhythms...deconstructing them in a way...on songs like "Fool in the Rain" and "South Bound Saurez". The solo on "I'm Gonna Crawl" simultaneously makes my heart throb and leaves a lump in my throat. A soaring six-string squall of emotion. Then there's "Carouselambra"...good god almighty, people, there are guitars scorching all over this track!!! I absolutely was floored by this song when I first heard it...it's stupendous in my book. I'll take on the whole bar, if I have to, defending this song. Lyrically and musically, it's one of the more richly textured and adventurous songs in the Led Zeppelin canon. It's a perfect snapshot of where Led Zeppelin was in 1979. Best of all, it wasn't "The Lemon Song" or "Black Dog" Part Deux. To me "In Through the Out Door" was a band in flux. A band grappling with the shifting musical and technological tides. ITTOD was a means to an end...the only problem was that Bonham's untimely death prevented us from ever hearing what that end would be. No, "Coda" doesn't really give us any clue...with the exception of "Wearing and Tearing". Think of it like this: in Led Zeppelin's album chronology, two of their most esoteric/eclectic albums, often misunderstood by fans and critics alike, were III and "Houses of the Holy". Both albums were followed by jaw-dropping masterpieces: IV and "Physical Graffiti". One could argue that it was the band stretching out on albums like III and "Houses" that gave them the know-how and confidence to deliver the towering epics that followed in their wake. That is how I look at ITTOD. It was the band trying on new hats and playing around with their formula to see what to keep as they moved into the 80s and what to jettison. With ITTOD and the 1980 tour under their belt, whose to say that when they reconvened for their next studio album that they wouldn't have a firmer grasp on their sonic direction. A bolder confidence. I think the 9th studio album would have been a monster...a sort of summing up of the best parts of the new directions explored on "Presence" and "ITTOD", mixed with some of the German and minimalist avant-garde influences that were creeping into some of the live performances on the 1980 tour. Listening to some of the solos on "Trampled Underfoot" or "Whole Lotta Love" in 1980, I have to think Jimmy was listening to Neu!, Cluster, Popol Vuh, and maybe some Frippertronics. Also, think of how Bonham's drumming and grooves had grown exponentially from Presence to ITTOD and his playing on the 1980 tour. Is there any doubt his beats would be monstrous and supple/complex on the next album? Just think if the 1980 US tour had happened...they would have been exposed to the hip-hop scene that was then rising from the underground and hear the playing around with beats and samples that was the bedrock of the sound. I believe that would have had a profound and positive effect on Bonham and the band...much like it did on The Clash when they toured the U.S. around the same time. But then, I was always an optimist when it came to Led Zeppelin. Finally, for the record: In the Creem Readers Poll of 1979, ITTOD came in #1 for Album of the Year and Led Zeppelin was Band of the Year. If memory serves, Robert, Jimmy, Jones, and Bonham all placed at or near the top in their respective instrumental/vocal categories. Doesn't sound like an album that was "disliked" to me.

Well Pagefan55, if you're going to listen to the Wagner operas, you have better have heaps and heaps of time. It takes 16 hours to listen to the complete Ring Cycle alone. When it comes to Wagner, some people think the best way is to approach it slowly, timidly...start with the shorter, stand-alone operas ("The Flying Dutchman", "Parsifal") before tackling the Mount Everest that is DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN, the four opera Ring Cycle. But I say it's best to dive right in...no point in being timid when you're dealing with the boldness of Wagner. Besides, the Ring tetralogy is grounded in Norse mythology...there are dwarves, Rhine Maidens, Gods and Giants, and a gold ring with magical powers. If you like Led Zeppelin and The Lord of the Rings, there is a good chance you'll be inclined to like the subject matter of the The Ring of the Nibelungen. Some of Wagner's Ring has even transcended the opera world and passed into pop culture. Even without realizing it, many people have heard "The Ride of the Valkyries" and "Siegfried's Idyll". The complete Ring comprises of these four operas in order: 1. Das Rheingold 2. Die Walküre 3. Siegried 4. Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) Each opera is around 4 hours, depending on the production and conductor. There are many recordings to choose from, but for my money, the best introduction is still George Solti's 1960s Ring with the Vienna Philharmonic, which featured many of the great Wagnerian singers of the 20th Century: Birgit Nilsson, Kirsten Flagstad, Gustav Niedlinger, even a young Joan Sutherland. It's on the Decca label and you can find it for a pretty reasonable price. After that, you can explore other conductors interpretations of The Ring of the Nibelungen...Pierre Boulez, Karl Böhm, Daniel Barenboim, William Furtwangler, and of course, the great Herbert von Karajan's '67-'70 recording with the Berlin Philharmonic. After you complete the Ring Cycle, Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" should be next on your list...devastatingly haunting. I'm also partial to "The Flying Dutchman". Other Wagner operas of note that you can explore at your leisure are "Tannhauser", "Die Meistersinger von of Nürnberg", and "Parsifal". I see you also asked about other operas. I have to go to work now so a full answer will have to wait, but any short list of favourite operas would have to include Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", "Don Giovanni", and "The Magic Flute". Also essential are three of Maria Callas' greatest performances in Bellini's "Norma", Puccini's "Tosca", and Bizet's "Carmen". I would also add in three other great Puccini operas: "Madame Butterfly" and "La Bohème", and "Turandot". Nor can any opera list be complete without the Italian legend Verdi, my favourites being "La Traviata", "Macbeth", "Rigoletto", and "Aida". Lastly, for purely catchy tunes and music, it's hard to beat Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", a sort of prequel to Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro".

Paul, it's not the concert that was dark but the inability of film and video of that era to properly capture concert lighting without special film speed and shutter exposure settings taken in account. If an official release of Seattle '77 came out using the master tape, it would look a lot better than the bootlegs available. I am curious why your DVD is called "Kingdom Come"? It would make more sense for the DVD to be titled "KINGDOME Come", as it was the Seattle Kingdome where the concert was held. And it is insulting for any reference to that lame band Kingdom Come to be linked to anything to do with the mighty Led Zeppelin. As for the Godfather audio to Seattle '77, pm me your address Paul and I might be able to accommodate you.

I have said it before and I believe it to my marrow: July 24, 1979 is not only superior to July 23, 1979, but it is the best and most overall consistent concert Led Zeppelin played post-'77. While 1980 had some great moments in spots...primarily on "Trampled Underfoot" and "Achilles Last Stand" and the Berlin "Whole Lotta Love"...there were many head-scratching moments as well. I get that they wanted to streamline the show and jettison the long drum and guitar solos. But they sure went about it in a clumsy fashion. Why cut off the musical intros to "No Quarter" and "Nobody's Fault but Mine" but then mangle "White Summer" for 10-plus minutes?

Salad: arugula and romaine lettuce, grilled peaches, roma tomatoes, beets, quinoa, roasted pecans, citrus (orange-lemon-lime) vinaigrette. Grilled corn on the cob with chipotle cream sauce, shaved parmesan and cilantro. Ginger hibiscus tea.