Ken

To Mid-Life Crisis. I've gotten myself a Harley Davidson Road King and hitting the open road to Winslow, Arizona. I'm including songs like America's "Ventura Highway", Jackson Browne's "Running On Empty", et. al and capping it off with "Take It Easy" for the arrival in Winslow. Looking for favorites for the trip. All the best, Ken.

Downtown Train And a new tour this May. He still sounds wonderful.

(With apologies to Mr. Mathers) [intro:] [Tuning TV] [Eminem Snortin Crack] [TV Presenter:] Hello boys and girls Today we're gonna talk about father and daughter relationships Do you have a daddy? I'll bet you do [Door opens] who's your daddy? [Hailie:] Daddy, what're you doing? [beat starts] [Eminem:] Haha [Eminem & Hailie:] Ok then! everybody, listen up! [Eminem:] I'm goin to Hell, who's comin' with me? [Hailie:] Somebody, please help him! [giggle] i think my dad gone crazy! There's no mountain I can't climb There's no tower too high, No plane that i can't learn how to fly What do I gotta do to get through to you, to show you There ain't nothing i can't take this chainsaw to [Hailie Makes Chainsaw Sound] *****n' brain's brawn, and brass balls I cut 'em off, i got 'em pickled and bronzed in a glass jar Inside of a hall, with my framed autographed, Sunglasses with Elton John's name, on my drag wall I'm out the closet, I been lying my a** off All this time, me and Dre been *****n' with hats off [Dr Dre:] ***k it Marshall [Eminem:] So tell Laura and her husband to back off Before i push this ***********n' button and blast off And launch one of these Russians, and that's all [Hailie Makes Explosion Sound] Blow every *****n' thing, except Afghanistan on the map, off When will it stop? When will I knock the crap off? [Knocking] Hailie, tell 'em baby [Hailie:] My dad's lost it [ [Eminem:] There's really nothin' else to say I, I can't explain it [Hailie:] I think my dad gone crazy! [Eminem:] A little help from Hailie Jade won't you tell em' baby [Hailie:] I think my dad gone crazy! [Eminem:] Theres nothin' you could do or say that could ever change me [Hailie:] I think my dad gone crazy! [Eminem:] There's no one on earth that can save me, not even Hailie [Hailie:] I think my dad gone crazy! It's like my mother always told me [Eminem Impersinates His Mom] Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana, and codeine and god******, you little ***********r If you aint got nothin' nice to say then don't say nothin' uh.. ***k that ***t, bitch, eat a *********n' ***k Chew on a *****k, and lick a million ******** ****** per second I'd rather put out a ************g gospel record I'd rather be a ****y-whipped ****h, eat *****y And have ****y-**** glued to my face with a ****-ring in my nose Then quit bringin my flows, quit giving me my ammo Can't you see why I'm so mean? if y'all leave me alone, this wouldn't be my m.o. I wouldn't have to go eenie meenie minie mo Catch a **** by his toe, man I don't know no more Am I the only *****n one who's normal any more? [Hailie:] Dad My songs can make you cry, take you by surprise And at the same time, make you dry your eyes with the same rhyme See what you're seeing is a genius at work Which to me isn't work, so it's easy to misinterpret it at first, Cuz when i speak, it's tongue in cheek I'd yank my *****n teeth before I'd ever bite my tongue I'd slice my gums, get struck by *****n' lightning twice at once And die and come back as Vanilla Ice's son And walk around the rest of my life spit on And kicked and hit with ***t, every time I sung Like R Kelly as soon as "bump n' grind" comes on More pain inside of my brain, than the eyes of a little girl inside of a plane Aimed at the World Trade, standin' on Ronnie's grave, Screaming at the sky, till clouds gather as Clyde Mathers and Bonnie Jade And thats pretty much the gist of it,Parents are pissed, but the kids love it Nine millimeter, heater stashed, in two-seaters with meat cleavers I don't blame you, i wouldn't let Hailie listen to me neither [Eminem:] Crazy [Hailie:] ha ha You're funny daddy!

I've looked for this for a long time online. From my hometown of LaSalle, Ontario, Canada! Canadian Reggae at it's very best. One - "Wide Load".

"Barometer Soup" Jimmy Buffett.

"We've Got A Lot To Drink About" Jimmy Buffett, live in Key West.

I was in Northern Ontario last week and can tell you that -40F is not a lot of fun. I expect Key Largo, Florida to be more hospitible next week. We did the cup of hot water trick late one positively frigid night and it's true. You throw a mug of hot water in the air and it turns to vapor immediately. The water, not the mug.

"Surfing In A Hurricane" - Jimmy Buffett.

Not for the kids. At all. This is the best Christmas song you'll never hear on the radio. While whistling it in the local grocery store, the young 20-something in front of me turned, grinned, and gave me the fist-bump. Coarse language ahead. Dennis Leary's Christmas Song.

At minus eleven, none of that stuff happens. Oh, you still deal with the Beagle gift, however, your toes collide with it and you need Tylenol extra strength to get the swelling down. Most wonderful time of the year my arse. This is not fit for man nor beast....

Still trying to figure out the point of that one. I'm fairly certain all countries have areas in major cities.

I've just been uh, downsized and I am fiddling with an early Christmas present and considering letting the wind blow through what's left of my hair.... That's Winslow, AZ, on the GPS.

Nope, it was real. I think the :15 may have been foisted on her. R.I.P Lucy.

Casey Kasem shocked a couple of people with these Out-Takes . This is hysterical, funnier if you can find it without the voice-overs. To this day, I hear "Snuckles" and I start laughing...... This is the Abridged Version....

Bob Dylan. The man cannot sing.

I am constantly surprised at what the shock jockeys will say and how quickly they toss it out. They had Detroit's 101.1 WRIF on at work this morning. The two morons on there, Drew and Mike (I loathe these guys), on about Jackson dying of food poisoning and I'll leave it to you to figure out the rest. But I winced as they were chortling about it. Chrissakes, someone did die...

Funny the size a hole a pet leaves.... What was Abbey?

This is Bailey, my 10 year old Beagle a couple of months ago. He's developed a tumor, and the vet says to enjoy what time we have left. I don't know what I'll do.....

The opening chords to the greatest ode to large ladies anywhere, "Whole Lotta Rosie", the crowd chanting Angus' name.

It's eerily reminiscent of Stephen King's In The Deathroom ....

I'd Rather Go Blind Etta James Something told me it was over When I saw you and her talkin' Something deep down in my soul said, 'Cry, girl' When I saw you and that girl walkin' around Whoo, I would rather, I would rather go blind, boy Then to see you walk away from me, child, no Whoo, so you see, I love you so much That I don't wanna watch you leave me, baby Most of all, I just don't, I just don't wanna be free, no Whoo, whoo, I was just, I was just, I was just Sittin here thinkin', of your kiss and your warm embrace, yeah When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now, baby Revealed the tears that was on my face, yeah Whoo and baby, baby, I'd rather, I'd rather be blind, boy Then to see you walk away, see you walk away from me, yeah Whoo, baby, baby, baby, I'd rather be blind...

From www.cnn.com What will save rock 'n' roll? Steven Van Zandt: Bands aren't woodshedding, aren't learning rock 'n' roll history. By Todd Leopold CNN (CNN) -- Steven Van Zandt did not mince words. The Beatles, Van Zandt says, spent years in Hamburg developing their chops as, essentially, a bar band. "I want to spend just a minute on a topic that never ever gets discussed in the music business -- the music," the Bruce Springsteen guitarist and "Sopranos" star said in a speech to the SXSW music and arts festival in March. "The reason nobody wants to talk about it is because it mostly sucks! "Who are we kidding here?" he said. "Nobody's buying records? Because they suck!" He called the speech "A Crisis of Craft," and implored listeners to get back to rock 'n' roll's roots. Learn how to play cover songs, he said. Get people to dance. Harness your working-class energy. Take pride in craft. It's been two months since that speech, and Van Zandt is still passionate about the subject. "[Rock 'n' roll] is a craft that has to be learned," he tells CNN. "There are things you learn by listening to great records, copying heroes." He believes that he said some things that people were thinking, but haven't said out loud. But the rumbles are out there. The music business is in a state of flux, with the sales of more profitable CDs continuing to fall even as single downloads climb. "American Idol's" season is coming to an end, with rock purists once again assailing the show's slick pop sensibility. Commercial radio, country, rap and hip-hop -- they all have their critics, many of them wishing a return to the way things used to be. Blog: What do you think of the state of rock 'n' roll? Van Zandt has sympathy for all sides, coming at the issue from what he calls "a unique perspective" -- he's a musician, a DJ (with his radio show and Sirius XM channel, "Little Steven's Underground Garage") and record label honcho (Wicked Cool Records). He's quick to observe that he's not slamming all pop music. There's vibrancy in some hip-hop, he says, and he admires "Idol," particularly when it promotes music history. "But it's quite an alien world to my traditional rock 'n' roll world," he adds. "It has nothing to do with it." Within that rock 'n' roll world, he worries. Today's bands, he says, look down on performing covers, and as a result many have gotten lost in a musical wilderness. "The result is an extraordinary amount of mediocrity," he says. "There are no standards to live up to." Which is part of the problem with rejuvenating rock 'n' roll, says Steve Greenberg, founder of S-Curve Records, which includes alt-rockers Tinted Windows and We The Kings among its acts. Technology is one problem, he observes. "I think in the old days, in order to even be decent, it took a lot of work," he says. "And today, relatively untalented and uncreative people can actually make rock 'n' roll music that sounds kind of decent. And I think that kind of fools people and causes people to be lazy." But for Greenberg there's also a sense that the "square pegs" -- the naturally rebellious types -- are getting shoved in round holes. "A lot of opportunities inevitably these days go to people who fit the format, whether the format is Top 40 radio or 'American Idol' or [Radio] Disney or whatever it is," he says. "There's so much pressure to fit those slots. And it's the square pegs ultimately who are going to change the world." The spirited Greenberg wants to channel that rebellious energy. He's high on a band he signed named Care Bears on Fire, a trio of 13-year-old Brooklyn girls who sound like the Ramones with a touch of Shonen Knife. "Their attitude is maybe one size doesn't fit all," he says. "I feel like the spirit of rock 'n' roll lives in those guys. ... They're having fun playing rock 'n' roll." Scott Booker, the manager of the avant-pop band the Flaming Lips ("She Don't Use Jelly," "Do You Realize??"), is also hoping to foster creativity. He's serving as the CEO of the Academy of Contemporary Music, a music school based at Central Oklahoma University. Drawing from a British concept, the school plans to offer courses in music, music production and the music business, many starting this fall. Booker observes record labels aren't spending as much money on developing talent. He hopes the ACM not only makes bands more signable, but also teaches them business strategies, such as setting up their own label and distribution apparatus. "This could become a think tank for how the industry could go," he says, musing aloud. "People think of music as a throwaway cultural item [nowadays]. I want to change that. ... Make things more exciting." Technology, adds BMI executive Phil Graham, can also be rock 'n' roll's friend. "The opportunities the digital world give the population as a whole to throw their talents to a very wide audience is a very good thing," he says. More people have gotten the chance to put their music out there and connect with fellow music lovers, he says. Of course, there are also old-fashioned connections. BMI sponsors dozens of showcases for new acts; young bands play clubs and hawk their CDs (or Web page). Van Zandt welcomes the efforts, but hopes there's also a connection to rock 'n' roll history. He's founded a Rock and Roll Forever Foundation to foster music education in schools. (To its credit, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has similar programs.) "The spark comes from whatever people are into these days -- and that very well may be 'American Idol,' " he says. "You start with whatever singer you're rooting for, and you start to trace back where they come from. It's up to the artists themselves to make sure that their fans know where they're coming from, to make it clear that music doesn't fall off trees."

The line that began a way of life... "Nibblin' on spongecake, watchin' the sun bake, all of the tourists, covered with oil......"

On the bike-ride home tonight I put an old favorite on I haven't listened to in over a year. Bob Seger's "Live Bullet". I suspect the album is a regional favorite and to paraphrase a commercial "those who like it, like it a lot. From the opening introduction "Whoa! You are here because you want the real thang.." (Danny Carlysle, from the now defunct WWWW-FM) to the last notes of "Let It Rock" there isn't a bad song on the album. Everyone knows someone who was at the September 4th/5th show(s) back in '75. Seger really is a local boy who did very well for himself and made those from this area proud to be from this area. Not an easy feat. This area is Detroit. It's ugly, it smells funny, and people aren't quick with compliments about it. But in the album's opening song, he says "As I told everybody last night, I was readin' in Rolling Stone where, they say that Detroit audiences are the greatest Rock 'n Roll audiences in the world.. I thought to myself, shi*, I've known that for ten years..." Instantly welding himself to his audience like the members of his audience welded door hinges to body frames on the cars we built here. He was/is one of us. We are him. Even today, songs like Beautiful Loser, Jody Girl and Travelin' Man still sound fresh and vital. The tight groove of "Heavy Music" (complete with it's sly remarks about the massage parlors at John R. and Brush streets) set a high watermark for live albums. I always have given this record high marks. And the 8-track. And the cassette. And the CD. I've owned them all and will continue purchase it on whatever form is to come. Come spend some time in Detroit... Nutbush City Limits Travelin' Man / Beautiful Loser Jody Girl I've been Working Turn The Page U.M.C. Bo Diddley Ramblin' Gamblin' Man Heavy Music (Don'tcha ever feel like goin' insane, when the drummer begin to pound?) K-k-k-k-Katmandu Lookin' Back Get Out Of Denver Let It Rock "I'm Bob Seger and I'm from Ann Arbor, Michigan" 10/10.

Bob Seger U.M.C (Upper Middle Class) I wanna be a lawyer Doctor or professor A member of the UMC I want an air conditioner Cottage on the river And all the money I can see I wanna drive a Lincoln Spend my evenings drinking The very best burgandy I want a yacht for sailing Private eye for tailing My wife if She's a bit too free I've been told ever since a boy that's what one ought to be A part of the UMC I want a pool to swim in Fancy suits to dress in Some stock in GM and GE An office in the city Secretary pretty Who'll take dictation on my knee I want a paid vacation Don't want to have to ration A thing with anyone but me And if there's war or famine Promise I'll examine The details if they're on TV I'll pretend to be liberal but I'll still support the GOP, As part of the UMC I wanna be a lawyer Doctor or professor A member of the UMC