The Last Top 10 Essential Classic Album

Although I said that these were in no particular order, I did save the best for last. Here it is:

Led Zeppelin IV – Although not my personal favorite (to pop into the CD player), probably due to overexposure, this is without a doubt the greatest classic rock album ever made. As if Stairway To Heaven wasn’t enough, this album shows the full range of Zep’s songwriting and musical prowess. The band displayed their lighter side on the great ballad Going To California and the Mideastern-influenced folk song Battle Of Evermore (featuring Fairport Convention vocalist Sandy Denny); rocked out on the eponymous Rock And Roll (featuring longtime Rolling Stones keyboardist Ian Stewart on piano) as well as Black Dog, Four Sticks, and Misty Mountain Hop; and set a new standard for production with the thunderous drum sound on the great blues sendup and closing song When The Levee Breaks. Six of the eight songs on this album became staples of Zep’s live set over the ensuing years. This was the greatest rock band ever at the absolute height of their considerable musical powers.

Cheap Thrills

Anyone who rides a motorcycle knows that you are going to have the occaisional "Oh S***!" moment - it's how you react to them that defines whether or not you should consider parking it for good. Needless to say, panic and/or hesitation are not desireable reactions when you are in the moment.

Today I was coming into a small town, doing about 35 in 3rd gear in a 35 zone, and had a light go yellow on me at that exact distance where you just aren't sure whether to try to stop or to gun & run. Unfortunately, I chose to try to stop, which would have been the right thing to do on dry pavement. On wet pavement, however, I fishtailed; released the brakes, tried again, fishtailed again. Now I am at the big white stripe that delineates the intersection, still going 25 mph, and the light has by now changed from yellow to red. Drat. At that point, you hope that the folks in their cages are paying attention to the show, and run the red light. I'm sure that anyone who was watching probably thought that I was going too fast and/or was out of control; the fact is that wet pavement takes away one of your two huge defensive meneuvering advantages, the ability to stop quickly. Live and learn; luckily I lived to learn this time.

Experiences like this remind you of just how little control you have over things when they go awry on you.

Terrible Ted

No not Kennedy, although that would also be an appropriate title for a post commemorating the 40th anniversary of Ted's getting away with murder at Chappaquiddick.

No, in this instance it's Nugent, displaying his usual reticence in sharing his opinion about the Second Amendment. Here is the link:

http://biggeekdaddy.com/miscvideos/TedNugent.html

I had thought about putting up a post on the Second Amendment, but there is not much I could add to Ted's comments. Besides, the entire thing is one 27-word sentence - what is so hard to understand? Has the meaning of the words "The right of the people..... shall not be infringed" changed since the last time I consulted a dictionary?

Anyhow, the liberal conducting this PBS interview has a noticably distasteful reaction to Ted's answer, which I find amusing. Credit to the guy for hanging in there though.

Major Disappointment

I am, as I am sure many others are, disappointed that Tom Watson fell short in a playoff to Stewart Cink at the British Open. Actually not so much that he lost the playoff, which was somewhat of a forgone conclusion, but that he bogeyed 18 to set up the playoff in the first place. I wonder if Watson can find solace in making the playoff at a major at age 59 when he had a very real chance to win.

Golf is a fickle game; Cink, playing two groups ahead of Watson, made a great putt to birdie the difficult 18th to get to -2; shortly thereafter Watson missed a tentative 9-footer that would have won it outright. As with any such outcome, Watson can look back at missed opportunities; primarily his adrenaline-fueled approach at 18 that rolled through the green and set up his bogey.

This is not to take anything away from Cink - anyone who makes four birdies on the back 9 on Sunday at a major deserves to win, and he played the 4-hole playoff in 2 under, including another birdie at 18. Cink has always had the skill and talent to win a major and if anything it is surprising that it took this long - my hat goes off to him for a great round and a great win. Still, though, it would have been absolutely amazing to see Watson capture his 6th British Open and 9th Major at the site of 1977's Duel In The Sun, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, majors ever.

The Open Championship has not always produced the great theater and great champions in recent years that it is renowned for, but this one was truly one for the ages.

The next (to last) Top 10 Classic

OK. here we are at the top. Shouldn't have been too hard to figure these two out. Here is Number 2:

2) Pink Floyd, Dark Side Of The Moon – Not my personal favorite Pink Floyd release (or some members of the band’s, based on interviews) to listen to, definitely due in my case to overexposure. However, an unprecedented 736 weeks in the Billboard Top 100 is a confirmation from the fans of how staggeringly brilliant this album is. It produced two anthems (Time and Money); two of the most beautiful pieces of rock music ever recorded (Great Gig In The Sky and Us And Them); was daring and pioneering in it’s production and use of sound effects and synthesizers; and was the most successful “concept album” ever made. Roger Waters emerged as a great lyracist with his scathing social commentary. Even the album artwork was striking and memorable. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and was also a breakout for studio engineer Alan Parsons.

Barbara Boxer Part Dieux (as in Duh)

For those who don't listen to talk radio or watch Fox News (funny, this seems like Deja Vu), California Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer once again disgraced herself last week with her racist, elitist responses to Henry Alford, head of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, who was testifying about the economic disaster that the Cap and Trade (AKA Tax and Kill) legislation will be. I am not going to post a link because the exchange is 6 minutes long but I'm sure it is readily available for anyone who cares about the direction these liberal nitwits are taking us in. How much $$$ did it require to get a brainless elitist moron like Boxer into the Senate? Two words, America: TERM LIMITS!! Learn them and love them!!

Plumbing woes

I think that if I had it all to do over again, I would seriously consider becoming a Master Licensed Plumber - not that I posess the skill set or the aptitude for such a thing. I was awakened this morning to a severed water main and a well pump that was doing a fine job of watering one side of my yard. Once I figured our which breaker shut off the well pump (I'm not an electrician either) I set about trying to find a plumber who could come out on a Saturday. Ha!!

Now, I had looked at this thing, and determined that I could probably fix it myself, but I have a tendency to like things done on my house by someone who actually has a clue what they are doing. Since no one like that was available, I made the requisite 3 trips to the hardware store and 2 false starts before finally completing the task myself. I am still not sure if the 5 hours or so of my time, gallons of gas, and parts purchased for experimentation were a better value than a competent professional - the point is that you can no longer FIND a competent tradesperson, and not only a plumber - heating and A/C, auto mechanic, whatever. When my parents were young, young men apprenticed to a trade because it promised a good living and a future. Now, young people either go to college or become unskilled labor - we see it in the Land Surveying community, there are no good, smart kids coming in at entry level. If this trend continues, good luck getting anything done right in another 20 years or so - unless, of course, you or someone you know can do it yourself.

I think that there will be a shortage of skilled tradesmen in this country and that at some point these individuals will be able to write their own tickets. And that includes motorcycle mechanics!!!

The Next Top 10 Classic

A while back I set out to describe what I consider to be the Top 10 Must-Have classic rock albums, with the stipulation that all 10 are from different artists. Now I am down to the last three - here is the first of those heavyweights:

3) The Yes Album – I am not sure that this is the best lineup that Yes fielded - some would prefer Rick Wakeman on keyboards over Tony Kaye, who plays on this album. Personally, I like the keys on this album; they have not yet gotten into the synthesizers that made much of their later stuff torturous to listen to. Maybe because of that I find this to be by far the most solid and listenable album that they made. Side 1 is as good as it gets – Yours Is No Disgrace, The Clap, Starship Trooper. The Clap is a solo accoustic piece that demonstrates Steve Howe’s virtuosity on guitar, sandwiched between two anthems that showcase the musicianship of the band while remaining highly listenable. Your Move/All Good People is a radio staple that was one of the band’s great commercial successes. On any other album the last two songs, A Venture and Perpetual Change, would stand out, but here it is hard for them to live up to the standard that has been set. This album is flawed, but is the best product of the "art rock" genre of the '70's and is definitely a must-have.

Thoughts from the Road

As I mentioned, I was travelling all week; here are a few of the things that I pondered during that time...

Joe Biden - ya gotta love Joe, he's a walking malaprop - said that during the campaign "we misjudged the economy". Really? That would be the same economy that Barack (inaccurately) portrayed as the worst since the Great Depression? How can you misjudge it if it is the worst since the Depression? (It wasn't, but they are working on it)...

Speaking of stupid Democrats, I heard Nancy Pelosi bloviating about "protecting God's beautiful creation". Unfortunately, she was bucking up the Cap and Trade bill, not commenting on the millions of unnecessary abortions that are performed in her state...

Speaking of Cap and Trade, India and China once again made it clear at the G8 that they have no intention of adhering to whatever insane policies the U.S. adopts; this means that the unintended consequence of Cap and Trade will be to INCREASE polution when industrial, manufacturing, and energy jobs flee this country en mass...

Michigan unemployment is up to 16%... hey Governor, maybe another tax increase will do the trick!!...

Since I was in hotel rooms all week, most of which had a very limited selection of TV channels, I got blasted with the "All Michael Jackson, All The Time" networks - which was pretty much all of them. Thankfully, I am back home to my DirecTV and its 800 channels, so I can find some relief on the Martian Polar Ice Cap Network (turns out it is receding - we need to talk to those irresponsible Martians about their carbon emissions!)...

Yes, I had way too many mindless hours behind the wheel!

Sarah Palin

Someone recently asked me via e-mail what I thought about the soon-to-be-ex-governor; I decided to share my reply here.

I think Sarah Palin IS exactly what this country needs; she was a real breath of fresh air in the campaign and probably swung a lot of conservative votes to McCain. She seems to want what is best for the country and to be willing to take on both parties as well as big business. Despite the constant blathering by the left, she is very smart and a very astute, able politician. I believe that the amount of hate that the left and the mainstream media direct at someone is in direct proportion to how much that person scares them, and therefore that Sarah is the left's worst nightmare. As far as her vacating the governor's seat, I believe she had valid reasons:

- she would have been a lame duck as she had no intention of running again; this gives her lieutenant gov. a chance to step in and prove himself before he runs for re-election;

- she was under constant attack, mainly from the left. She has had to defend herself - successfully - against something like 15 or 16 corruption charges;

- defending herself has not only cost her personally some $500,000 but has probably cost the state millions, not to mention all of the time that it has wasted;

- she has endured personal attacks and attacks against her family that would be enough to make anyone nuts.

It cracks me up to no end that people said she was underqualified to be the veep but those same people seem to think that the community organizer and professional campaigner we have in the White House is eminently qualified to be there. The double standard will never cease to amaze me. I heard some elitist bimbo yapping that she was "uneducated" because she went to a state school whereas Barack is "educated" because he was brainwashed... I mean indoctrinated.... I mean "educated" at Harvard. Barack the "brilliant Constitutional lawyer" who, as far as I can tell, either never actually read it or else dismisses it as passe.

I don't know what she plans to do next - neither a book nor a lucrative speaking tour would surprise me a bit, and she deserves to make some $$$ - I have my doubts about whether she plans to run in 2012 though; if anything I would expect here to run for the Senate. Hopefully she will continue to be a force for positive change, we definitely need people like her.

Top 10 Classics

I will start with the next Top 10 Classic - since I am a week behind I will also post one tomorrow. This one is the album that made me start pondering this topic in the first place; I was listening to it one day and thought to myself, What a great album - this should be essential to any good Classic Rock collection.

4) Bruce Springsteen, Born To Run – Bruce had had limited commercial success to this point, and needed to produce a big seller. In his words, he “set out to make the greatest rock and roll record ever”. Well, he set the bar high, and he produced a phenomenal album that changed the musical landscape. The opening song, Thunder Road, is a masterpiece, and the album never lets up. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out is one of my personal favorites (and features David Sanborn on saxophone); the title track is one of Bruce’s best. Bruce had more time (due to a protracted contractural dispute) to work on the subsequent Darkness On The Edge Of Town lp, and it is also a great album, but Born To Run was the breakout album and is Bruce at his best.

Back at home - for now

OK, I know I have been negligent in keeping this current; I was on the road on a fairly arduous business trip from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon, but I am back and have some things to vent about.