Well, both Buffalo and Oakland got clobbered in their last preseason games, so it could be a long season for both of us. I was having pizza and beer for lunch and the place had the NFL Network and ESPN on all the tv screens. Baltimore @ Denver on NBC at 8:30EST/5:30PST is the Kick-Off game of the season. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2013090500/2013/REG1/ravens@broncos#menu=gameinfo&tab=preview

Nobody's going to pin a thread with all this bickering, hehe. I've got four pools to make picks for, including a suicide pool I just joined today. Denver New England Chicago Miami New Orleans NY Jets Pittsburgh Detroit Indianapolis Seattle Jacksonville St. Louis San Francisco Dallas Washington Houston

I don't watch any of that hillbilly shit, nor do I pay attention to it. It might be someone's idea of America, but it isn't mine. For the record, though, "This Old House" was not the first reality show. "An American Family", filmed in 1971 and aired on PBS in 1973 was where it all began. The Loud family was never the same...and neither was American television. The reality tv bullshit really got going with MTV's "Real World" debut in 1992. Later came "Big Brother" and "Survivor" around 1999-2000. After the success of those shows, all bets were off and the floodgates opened with "American Idol" and all the rest of the swill.

That soundcheck is from 1973. Hmmmm...assuming they have soundboards or better in the vault, my top 5 wishlist would be: 1. Carnegie Hall 1969 2. Bath 1970 3. 9.19.70 MSG Evening show 4. 5.31.73 Bonzo's Birthday Party 5. 3.12.75 Long Beach

Too, too many to list. But here's a baker's dozen of some of my favourites. January 9, 1970 RAH. March 7, 1970 Montreux. April 17, 1970 Memphis. Sept. 4, 1970 LA Forum. Sept. 19, 1970 Evening show MSG. Sept. 24, 1971 Tokyo. Sept. 29, 1971 Osaka. June 25, 1972 LA Forum. March 21, 1973 Hamburg. March 24, 1973 Offenburg. June 3, 1973 LA Forum. July 17, 1973 Seattle. June 30, 1980 Frankfurt.

September 4, 1970. One of the GREATEST nights in Los Angeles music history. Led Zeppelin Live at the Fabulous Forum of Inglewood, recorded for posterity on Blimp's "Live On Blueberry Hill"... At the same time, Fairport Convention was beginning their three-night stand(Sept. 4-6) at Doug Weston's Troubadour Club in West Hollywood. Also recorded for posterity with a full-on mobile recording truck...officially released as "House Full". At present, the only live Fairport Convention release with Richard Thompson. The Troubadour Club is around 11-13 miles from the Forum, depending on which route you take...roughly a half-hour or so drive. After Led Zeppelin finished their Forum concert, they went to the Troubadour where they joined Fairport Convention around midnight or so to jam. The tape was rolling and exists somewhere...it's just that nobody seems to remember where it is now. Producer Joe Boyd mentions it in his liner notes on the back of the Hannibal Records release of "House Full" in 1986, which uses better takes and artwork than Island Records dismal 1977 release. Joe also writes about the night in his book "White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s". "Hey Joe", "Morning Dew", "That's Alright Mama", "Banks of Sweet Primroses" were some of the songs performed during the Fairport Zeppelin or Led Convention.

Or the children, hehe. Seriously, some of this obsessing over hair is excessive. Long or short, thick or thin...who cares? Wear it the way you like and stop dwelling. I used to prefer wearing it long but as I've gotten older I now tend to like it shorter. In a weird sort of twist, people now say that I look younger with short hair instead of long. I don't know...you be the judge. When it was longer a few months ago. The way it is now. I'll say one thing...it's a lot easier to care for when it's short and a lot cooler in the summer.

For the record, the above obituary was published Aug. 24 in the Western Daily Press. They own the copyright. http://m.westerndailypress.co.uk/#!/articles/news/article/19702331 RIP and all that, but cutesy human-interest aside, how do we know he was the oldest rocker? For all we know there may be 90 and 100 year old metalheads cranking Judas Priest and Motorhead right now.

Fresh blackberries. Why? Do you have your face buried in a particularly nasty clam?

These are the two I versions I have:

A moment of silence for a great cinematographer. Gilbert Taylor, Celebrated Cinematographer, Dies at 99 By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK Published: August 26, 2013 NEW YORK TIMES Gilbert Taylor, the British cinematographer behind hit movies like “Star Wars,” “The Omen” and “Dr. Strangelove,” died on Friday at his home on the Isle of Wight. He was 99. Columbia Pictures, via Associated Press Gilbert Taylor was behind the cinematography for Stanley Kubrick's “Dr. Strangelove,” with Peter Sellers. 20th Century-Fox, via Associated Press Mr. Taylor was also the mastermind behind the bright, clean shots in “Star Wars.” His death was confirmed by his wife, Dee, the BBC reported. Mr. Taylor brought a cinéma vérité sensibility to black-and-white pictures like the 1964 Beatles comedy “A Hard Day’s Night” and Stanley Kubrick’s cold war satire “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” He ensured that the battle footage in “Dr. Strangelove” was disturbingly realistic by shooting it like a documentary. “Stanley could handle a camera, so I told him, ‘For all this war stuff, we’ll both put on battle dresses and take Arriflexes into the action,’ ” Mr. Taylor said in a profile in American Cinematographer. “We’ll film it just like combat cameramen.” Roman Polanski chose Mr. Taylor to work on “Repulsion,” his 1965 psychological thriller starring Catherine Deneuve. “Our first day’s shooting left me amazed and a bit perturbed,” Mr. Polanski told the cinematography magazine. “As the rushes were shown, however, he possessed such an unerring eye that his exposures were invariably perfect.” Mr. Taylor brought a claustrophobic feel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1972 serial-killer film, “Frenzy,” and used a silk stocking provided by his wife as a filter to create the soft, haunting look of the horror film “The Omen.” He also masterminded the bright, clean shots for “Star Wars.” The director, George Lucas, “avoided all meetings and contact with me from Day 1, so I read the extra-long script many times and made my own decisions as to how I would shoot the picture,” Mr. Taylor said. Gilbert Taylor was born in April 1914 in Bushey Heath, England. He studied to be an architect, until age 15, before becoming an assistant to an early cinematographer, William Shenton, in 1929. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 and spent World War II photographing nighttime bombing raids over Germany. He took a small unit of cameramen to cover the liberation of concentration camps and the signing of the armistice in Europe. After the war he helped shoot the political film “Fame Is the Spur” (1947) and then worked on movies like “The Guinea Pig,” which starred Richard Attenborough, and “Seven Days to Noon,” a thriller about paranoia over the atomic bomb. Mr. Taylor teamed with the American director Richard Lester to film “It’s Trad, Dad!,” his 1961 movie about Dixieland jazz, which became a template of sorts for “A Hard Day’s Night.” Information about survivors, other than his wife, was unavailable. Mr. Taylor said he regarded his work on “Star Wars” as his greatest accomplishment. “I am most happy to be remembered as the man who set the look for ‘Star Wars,’ ” he said. “I wanted ‘Star Wars’ to have clarity because I don’t think space is out of focus.”

What type of plums, DD? Pluots or pure plums?

A bowl of Mother Nature's sweet bounty for breakfast...along with coffee and several glasses of water. Ahhhhh...the simple pleasures of life.

BREAKING NEWS: The NFL reaches a $765 million settlement in its concussion suit. http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=9612138&src=desktop You might say "too little too late" but it's a start. However, the NFL escaped with this little clause in the settlement: One of the principal terms of the settlement is that the agreement "cannot be considered, an admission by the NFL of liability, or an admission that plaintiffs' injuries were caused by football." Meanwhile, in this preseason full of injuries, I'm sitting here watching Pittsburgh and Kansas City play overtime in a meaningless preseason game. WTF?!? Why on earth would you risk further injury and ask your players to take more hits by playing overtime in preseason? It's idiotic! Further proof that the NFLPA is one of the worst players unions in sports.

That's what the Other Bands/Music section is for...to help people find music they might have otherwised missed out on the first time around or ignored for whatever reason. Whether it is Nirvana, Wilco, Black Angels, Portishead, Lady Gaga, Nina Simone, Sammy Davis, Jr. or Gustave Faure, there is a world of music out there beyond the Beatles/Stones/Led Zep/Floyd/Hendrix/Dylan/Who "classic rock" axis.

It's not that bad to my ears. But maybe it's the version I have. I mean, we already have plenty of boots where you can hear Robert prominently.

Because it's football* and I'm American, dude! * The first footy fan to come on here and say NFL isn't real football like soccer or futbol gets haggis shoved down their throat, hahaha.

ONE MORE WEEK!!!! Who's with me? I know Paul and Rick and Walter are...what about Black Dog? Where's he been...still hungover from his Super Bowl win?

Since Australia is so far advanced in time, a very happy birthday to Reggie! Please allow this Seppo to wish you a corker of a Celebration Day. We don't always agree on everything but you're a fun presence on the forum and great to have around.

You're a little late to the party...it's already been mentioned.

^^^ Welcome back kipper. Haven't seen you around in a long time. The Australia vs. USA wasn't meant literally...it was more a reference to Fischer's call for a boycott, which has pretty much fallen on deaf ears and fizzled at this point. Rightly so.

Wait...so this is neither the John Williams of film score("Jaws", "Star Wars") fame nor the classical guitarist John Williams? 'Cause that's the first thing I thought when I saw the name John Williams on the record label. Looks like I'll have to add another record to my list of things to hunt for at my visits to the record stores. Thanks.

You watch out for them, hahaha. They'll always be the San Diego Clippers/Buffalo Braves to me. It's Los Angeles Lakers only for me when it comes to the NBA.

Just had some last night at a new restaurant called Connie & Ted's out here in West Hollywood. http://www.connieandteds.com/

Yes. I have all Chicago from 1968's CTA to 1974's Chicago VII.