"Romans were pussies. He still has His eyes." Meanwhile, I see that "The Troubles" have even infiltrated this thread. Everywhere you go, it's the fookin' Irish! THEY are to blame for Osama...Usama...wouldn't you like to be a Sama, too?

With the Lakers out...and so too, our archrivals Boston Celtics, I'm not as enthused about watching the rest of the playoffs. But HELL YES! GO BULLS! Beat Miami!

Seasick Steve, eh? What, did Steve A Jones return from Japan by boat?

I'm not particularly religious and I hope you don't find me too forward, but I found myself thinking of these lines when reading your post, ebk. The Angels are carrying her home Where the Lord will meet her With a pair of wings

:lol: Yeah, you probably are...although I made a few alterations to my original text...but it's a movie I feel so strongly about that I had to share it with the board. Plus I know there's some gearheads on here that, if they haven't already seen it, should at the very first opportunity.

Do tell...pm me if there's details you'd rather not have out in the open.

One thing I like almost as much as going to concerts, is going to the movies. Plus, it's cheaper going to the movies than it is to concerts, so I tend to see more of them than I can keep up with...I probably average about 150-200 films a year, depending on how good the schedule is in a given year. Here in LA, we have several organizations and venues that devote their programming to old, classic movies or independent, off-beat fare along with periodic retrospectives of stars and directors. One such organization is the American Cinematheque, which has two theatres for their programming: the Aero in Santa Monica and the Egyptian in Hollywood. The Egyptian opened in 1922 and it was run by Sid Grauman, before he left in 1927 to the Chinese Theatre down the block, which is famous for the cement footprints of the stars in the courtyard(cf. the final scene in "Blazing Saddles"). The first film to open at the Egyptian in 1922 was "Robin Hood" with Douglas Fairbanks. Through the decades it changed ownership many times; United Artists was the last corporate owner before it closed in 1992. I saw two premieres at the Egyptian Theatre in the '80's, coincidentally both James Cameron films: "Aliens" in 1986 and "The Abyss" in 1989. The American Cinematheque took it over, restored it to it's original exterior and finally had it's grand reopening in 1998. Right now, they are running two tributes concurrently: one for the recently departed Elizabeth Taylor...they showed "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Cleopatra" earlier this week, and "Giant" is screening this Sunday. The other tribute is for director Monte Hellman, an obscure director from the 60's and 70's who made these wonderful movies, many of them with the underrated actor Warren Oates and a young Jack Nicholson. So for 3 nights(thurs-sat), they have been showing Monte's films, including the premiere of his latest one, "The Road to Nowhere", his first film in 20 years, and Monte will be there all 3 nights for a Q & A. But it's Thursday night's double-bill I want to talk about: "Two-Lane Blacktop" and "Ride in the Whirlwind". "Two-Lane Blacktop", from 1971, is one of my all-time favourite "road" movies...heck, movies period. I see it every chance I get on the big screen: 1) because of the wonderful widescreen cinematography; and 2) because it's rarely shown on TV. It's kind of like "Easy Rider", only instead of 2 guys riding cross-country on motorcycles, it's 2 guys racing a 1955 Chevy across the U.S. It's also more existential, with minimal dialogue, and there's long stretches where "nothing" happens. But as Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf and Seinfeld showed, it's those little "nothing" moments of the day that add up to a world of importance. And here's the real surprise of "TLB"...it stars 2 non-actors; musicians who would never act in a film again, even though they are so wonderful, so natural in this film. They are James Taylor and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. I've always liked the Beach Boys, and being a surfer when I was a young grommet, had a soft spot for the late, great Dennis Wilson, drummer of the Beach Boys and the ONLY surfer in the band. But James Taylor was another matter...when I was younger, I couldn't stand his music; thought he was too bland and wimpy. And I liked plenty of folk and stuff back then...just not James Taylor. So imagine my surprise when I saw "Two-Lane Blacktop" for the first time and saw these two musicians in starring roles...and they were GOOD! In fact, I think it's the coolest thing James Taylor's ever done. The rest of the cast includes the great and hilarious Warren Oates as the driver of the GTO, and in an early bit part as a hitchhiker, Harry Dean Stanton, credited as H.D. Stanton. Then there's Laurie Bird, as "the girl", who was one of those iconic hippie-chicks of the early-70's. The "plot", such as it is, involves James(the driver) and Dennis(the mechanic) going to town to town in their primer-grey '55 Chevy, trying to hustle up a drag-race for cash wherever they go. Along the way, they keep bumping into Warren Oates, who is driving this 1970 G.T.O. across country for some un-named reason; Warren keeps picking up hitchhikers along the way, but he tells a different story to each one. Finally, Warren challenges James and Dennis to a race from Oklahoma to Washington DC for pink slips. But as in most road movies, it's not the race or the destination that's important but the experiences along the way, the people and places seen. The movie takes place in a key point in our history...1970, as the 60's end and people are trying to make sense of the decade just past and what the future portends. All the characters seem haunted by something, like the reason they have to keep on the move is to outrun their past. It's also a portrait of an America that is almost vanished...and America before globalization, a time when every region had its quirks and personality. Before there had to be a Starbucks and McDonalds and Wallmart everywhere. And it's a paean to the pre-catalytic converter era of cars-when muscle cars roamed the land: Cameros, Chargers, GTOs, Barracudas, Mustangs, Firebirds...if you're a gear head(I'm talking to YOU, MissMelanie!), you will LOVE this movie just for the car and racing footage. But don't think just because it's existentialist, the movie's all dark and dour. No, there's plenty of humour...Warren Oates is especially funny, and even though the dialogue is sparse, what is said is eminently quotable. What the movie especially gets right is the behavior of real people. You never get the sense you are watching actors "act", but of people just behaving. It also captures, in the relationship between James and Dennis, that type of close friendship you have with someone where you are comfortable enough with each other to be quiet. Which is another aspect I love about this movie...the poetic quietness it achieves, which is ironic considering it's about the car racing culture. Beautiful soundtrack, too...the Doors, Kris Kristofferson, Arlo Guthrie. Depending on how big a city you live in, it's doubtful you'll get a chance to see "Two-Lane Blacktop" in a theatre, but there's a great Criterion DVD edition that you can rent, buy or put on your Netflix queue. If you liked "Easy Rider", give TLB a shot...I think you'll like it; maybe even be moved by it. Here's the opening ten minutes of the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZez1NS7Ptk The second film screened Thursday night, "Ride in the Whirlwind", is a western Monte directed in 1965 for Roger Corman. It's most notable for being written by, and starring a young Jack Nicholson. Jack and his cowhand buddies get mistaken for bandits and hunted by vigilantes. Harry Dean Stanton also appears. If you like westerns, it's worth renting, if only to see Jack and Harry Dean before they became well-known.

I wouldn't call Geraldo Rivera a "journalist" per se...he's more of a ham.

I've gotta say that I'm with Swede on this matter. Not that "Who's Next" is a bad album; I liked it when it came out and still do to a certain point. But like LZ IV, radio played it to death, and so I can only stand to listen to it occasionally, and I prefer the tracks "My Wife", "Bargain" and "Going Mobile" to warhorses such as "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". Not a big fan of the rock operas "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia", and the less said about stuff like "Squeeze Box", the better. And anyone who prefers the Who of the 80's and beyond needs their head examined. No, when I think of the Who, and go to put some on my stereo, it's the classic 60's mod-style Who I reach for...everything up to and including "The Who Sell Out". That's the stuff that will always sound timeless and fresh to me..."The Kids Are Alright"..."Happy Jack"..."Tattoo"..."I Can't Explain"..."Pictures of Lily"..."Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere"..."Substitute"...and on and on. Oh, and in case you haven't heard the news... Roger Daltrey taking "Tommy" on North American tour Thu May 12, 2011 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "The Who" frontman Roger Daltrey is taking the British band's 1969 rock opera "Tommy" on a six-week North American tour beginning in September, concert promoters said on Thursday. Daltrey, 67, will perform the album in its entirety, using visuals to accompany classic songs like "Pinball Wizard," "See Me, Feel Me" and "The Acid Queen." His bandmate Pete Townshend, who wrote the music and lyrics to the tale of the "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes a messiah, has given Daltrey his blessing but will not be taking part. "I will be there in spirit. Roger has my complete and most loving support," Townshend said in a statement. The tour of the United States and Canada kicks off in Hollywood, Fla., on September 13 and follows Daltrey's performance of the album in London in March. It is at this point that I would like to thank Led Zeppelin for not turning into the Who...or as they should be called now, the half-a-Who.

This coming from someone who sometimes doesn't even comprehend her own posts. Why drag your poor GF into this...hasn't she SUFFERED enough?

Hi David Finally remembered to check thru the Photo section for a change...glad I did. Good work as usual. I'm assuming these are someone else's photos and not yours personally? I ask because I notice there are none from the violin bow/laser section of the show, nor from No Quarter, and I was curious as to whether photos from those parts of the show didn't exist or if the photographer was holding them back? Also, looking at my 1977 tour program, I notice the band's clothes look like what they're wearing here. Was the tour program put together before the tour started, and if so, where were the photos used in the program taken? Manticore studios perhaps? Jones especially looks like he's wearing the exact same outfit as the first night in Chicago.

Hmmm, Preetha, it's starting to look like I'm stalking you, as my posts keep ending up right after yours. Don't worry...I'm not. Now that it looks like I'm the last guy left on the board who hasn't revealed his name, I suppose the time has come to join the Zeppelin board family and not be such a stick in the mud. In my defense, this is the first day I noticed this thread. My name is Sean. No, I wasn't named after Sean Connery or Sean Lennon or Sean Penn. It was a simple case of Sean being the Gaelic form of my father's name, John.

Paul's Boutique is the Beastie's Led Zep III. Just as Zeppelin knew regurgitating Whole Lotta Love was a creative dead end, so too did the Beastie Boys sense they couldn't just redo License to Ill if they wanted to be thought of as more than a novelty. They needed a game-changer. Paul's Boutique certainly changed the game...thanks in no small way to the contributions of the Dust Brothers. LZ III didn't sell well but set the stage for their creative explosion and cultural and commercial longevity. The same could be said for Paul's Boutique...the frat jocks who loved Licensed to Ill may not have liked it, but it became beloved by the indie/underground creative scene, so that by the time Check Your Head came out, the Beasties were cultural avatars. It's just a shame that they never toured Paul's Boutique.

Just put on The Drag Queen of New Orleans...sbd from the May 14, 1973 New Orleans show...38 years ago tonight.

Oh god...make 'em stop...please. Or just shoot me.

My condolences to Kiwi...and anyone who has had someone they know affected by breast cancer. Breast cancer hasn't hit anyone in my family, but it has a couple friends of mine. It's no walk in the park, that's for sure...but then, no form of cancer is. As for colours I hate...beige would be one. Pea soup green would be another...you know, the kind so many hospital rooms are painted.

Love the Beasties. Just got their new CD "Hot Sauce Committee Part Two" last week. Still in the process of digesting it; my first impression is that like other recent albums, it's uneven. IMO, "Hello Nasty!" was their last great album. You should at least have their first 5 albums: License to Ill; Paul's Boutique; Check Your Head; Ill Communication; and Hello Nasty!. Especially now that they've been released in remastered special editions with B-sides and instrumental jams. I first heard of the Beach Boys when I saw them open for Madonna on her Like a Virgin tour, April 1985 at the Universal Amphitheatre. Believe me, I took a lot of ribbing from friends about liking Madonna. In fact, the Madonna shows were shortly after the run of Iron Maiden shows at Long Beach Arena that were recorded for Live After Death...SCREAM FOR ME LONG BEACH! So I caught hell from Maiden fans when I said I was going to the Madonna concert. Didn't know anything about the Beastie Boys...don't even think I knew they were opening. I was purely going for Madonna...well, and because my GF wanted to go, too. The Beasties were rough, rowdy, and showed some promise but a lot of it was silly nonsense. Surely nothing that would suggest they would soon release rap's first #1 album. I can't even remember what their setlist was...I do remember my GF hated them and just wanted Madonna to come on. Next thing I know, it's 1986 and Fight for your Right to Party is ALL OVER MTV. I immediately go out and buy License to Ill and from the very first sampled John Bonham beats from When the Levee Breaks, I am hooked. I especially perk up when I recognize the Ocean riffs in She's Crafty. Wow, these guys dig Zeppelin/hard rock and are repurposing it in interesting ways. Around the same time I got hooked on the album, Run-DMC's Raising Hell tour was coming to LA, and the Beasties were one of the opening acts. The show ended up being crazy with fights breaking out between gang members, but I recall being enthused by the Beastie Boys set. Their own headlining tour for License to Hill in 1987 is legendary: girls dancing in cages, inflatable cock on loan from the Rolling Stones, and beer, beer, BEER EVERYWHERE! It got to the point where the boys could barely stay upright, the stage was so slippery from beer. It was a CONCERT PARTY of epic proportions. And just in time, too, since the previous party band supreme, Van Halen, had now, with the departure of David Lee Roth, become Van Hagar, boring boomer dad-rock. What really sealed the deal in making me a life-long Beastie fan was 1989's Paul's Boutique, a textural, kaleidoscope of sound...a masterpiece that no record collection should be without. And it's not just the sampling prowess that made the Beasties great, it was their voices and the way they bounced off each other...ping-ponging rapidly between singing solo to singing in tandem or all three together. It helped that all 3 (MCA, Adrock, Mike D) had distinct voices so you could tell who was singing what. I was an MCA fan myself...he was my fave Beastie Boy. I think it was his raspy voice. But where the Beastie Boys truly separated themselves from the rap pack was in their live shows. Most rap concerts of the time were disappointments, with the headliner doing a few lines and then letting his backups or the crowd fill in the blanks. And you often never got a full song; instead you got the dreaded rap-medley. Then there's the hoary cliché of the chant "put your hands in the air and wave 'em like you just don't care". With a couple exceptions, like RUN-DMC and Public Enemy, most rap groups were lazy and their shows were lame and amateurish. The Beasties concerts were different; for one thing they approached it like a rock concert. So you got a full show, with full song performances. Later, in the 90's, they would switch up between using a DJ and playing their own instruments, with the addition of Money Mark on the organ. In short, they raised the bar for rap concerts, and forced rappers to step up their game or fade to oblivion.

Now you got me blushing. I thank you kindly for the kind words, Foolintherain, but to be honest, I'm pushing 50 and my hair is turning grey.

I liked Soundgarden, enjoyed their records for the most part, and while I don't think CC is the greatest voice in rock, he's in the top 10. Although the last few times I've seen him: Soundgarden in 96, solo in 2000, and Audioslave in 04, his vocals didn't have the range and power he used to have. My all-time favourite Soundgarden song is "Head Down". Utterly hypnotic. Curiously, as much as I enjoyed their records, I always found them underwhelming in concert. Too withdrawn and lacking in charisma, particularly Chris. He tended to look like he was moping on stage. But I'll still go see them when they play the LA Forum this summer.

Didn't you know? Evster is a shoe cobbler in his spare time. Many a rock star's pair of feet have been shod in Evster's handiwork; his specialty is clogs. If I may add my personal anecdote, the times I've been close to Jimmy in person, whether it was at a show, Amoeba Records or the Bodhi Tree, I've judged his height to be somwhere around 5' 10" to 5' 11". Robert is closer to 6'...maybe even 6' 1"; especially if he's wearing boots. Or clogs.

How do you feel about a man confident enough to like musicals? And is a major fan of Judy Garland? To be honest, I've never understood the supposed aversion to pink men are expected to have, or any of the silly gender stereotypes. I presume the whole "men shouldn't wear pink" thing stems from the custom of newborn babies being assigned their own colour: blue for boys and pink for girls. Well, if that's so, why don't people freak out if a girl wears blue the way they do if a man wears pink? Like I said, it's all too silly. Kiwi, that's a good motto you have. But my favourite comes from the movie "Funny Face", starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. There's a great scene with Kay Thompson(the author of the Eloise books) sings the song, "THINK PINK!" FYI, my top 5 colours are: 1. Pink...with my blue eyes and tan skin, when I wear my pink shirt with faded blue jeans, the effect is devestating. 2. Blue...all shades but especially cobalt and sky blue. 3. Black...goes with everything and has a slimming effect. 4. Green...makes a good combination with pink. 5. Purple...Go Lakers!

Or the glow and haze of a billion lights, neon and otherwise, such as what I'm looking at right now at midnight on Hollywood Blvd.

The Lakers LOST TO DALLAS!?!? You mean, it wasn't some terrible absinthe-induced nigtmare? Sorry...but I'm still in pain. And I've already posted my grief over the Lakers, only somehow I didn't see this NBA thread, so I vented my thoughts on the "what made you unhappy today thread?". I'm just having a hard time letting the anger go...the Lakers going out like that, and to Dallas, a team we've owned the last few years. But, fair is fair...the Lakers got beat so I gotta give props to the Mavs. Maybe it IS their year...FINALLY. At least they're getting plenty of rest while OKC and Memphis battle on. Of all those teams, I guess I want Dallas to come out; at least then the Lakers can say they lost to the champion. In the east, it's easy: I'm rooting for Chicago. D-Rose and Noah(son of French tennis great Yannick!) are major fun to watch. Besides, if Miami gets to the finals, it will be 2006 all over again: Dallas won't be able to breathe on Dywane Wade without having a foul called. Just my 2 cents...oh, make it a nickel.

^^^ Well, whaddyaknow...pink is my favourite colour, too. And in that exact shade, too...goes well with my blue eyes. Been known to wear hot pink on occasion as well.