The Inside of Outside

He made everything he appeared in better.

Pieholden Suite again! Bring it back into the rotation when live shows can happen!

Could you imagine?!?

I thought False Prophet was pretty good, too. I tend to focus on his vocal inflections - that is where I try to get a sense of how "into it" he is. It is really noticeable in concert, as sometimes he is just garbling it up and other times he is precise in his phrasing. On False Prophet, it seems like he is paying close attention to his phrasing. Like he is trying. And I appreciate that, as he is 79 years old and could just keep mailing it in.

I lived south of Miami from 69-74. We had 2 season tickets for our family of 7 - each of us 5 kids got to go with my dad to one game a year. Don Shula was a god down there then. RIP.

^^^^Thanks for the advice on this one. I am adding it to my reading list.

^^^^^Thank you for sharing that. It helped me understand what the future might look like.

That is really touching.

That Fountain of Wayne's cover of Better Things is fantastic. I love the song, and had never heard their version. I have heard of the band, but never paid attention to them. Now I will dig into their catalogue.

I kinda freaked out when I read about Adam Schlesinger's death from COVID-19. We are the same age, and I was smack in the middle of fighting it off.

First symptoms appeared two weeks ago today - fatigue, body aches, and an odd sensation - like a cross between vertigo and being hooked up to a low-level electrical charge. Instead of light-headed, it felt like I was light-bodied. And this light-bodiedness came from inside my torso, and I felt it throughout my body. Never, never felt anything like it. Like something foreign had invaded my body. That lasted four days. Then, after that, four days of being a little more tired than usual. I thought I was through it.

I woke up Sunday with difficulty breathing. It got worse as the day went on, and I did a tele-health visit with a doctor (who happens to be a parent at the school where I work). Plan was to check in the next day, unless it got worse, in which case I would go to the ER. No sleep that night - every time I drifted off, I snapped awake because my regular breathing couldn't give me enough oxygen. Like sucking air through a straw, or having a good chunk of your lungs cut out.

I went to a COVID clinic on Monday. It was like a sci-fi movie set. Dr. visit in a parking lot, under a tent. The doctor went off to confer with other doctors about testing me. Because I am not over 60, I could not identify someone who I had come in contact with who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, and I am usually in good health, I did not qualify, but he was certain I have it. When he came back to talk with me, the look in his eyes (and I could only see his eyes) was clear: this is a shit-show, we should clearly test you, but we cannot because we have to ration the tests. I never knew the eyes could tell so much. I had a chest x-ray. Then he consulted with other doctors about admitting me to the hospital. They decided not to, which turned out to be a good decision. My symptoms improved that evening, and I have gotten a little better each day since. I am self-quarantined in my house. My wife or kids drop off my meals outside my bedroom door, I facetime people who are in my own house, etc.

So what did I take away from this? That I was lucky it wasn't worse. That our health care folks really are heroes (I thanked every one of them effusively). That this virus is powerful. That our health care system is a crapshow, the doctors and nurses I interacted with know it, and they feel badly about it. That there are not nearly enough tests available. That this means our count is way under-reported (for instance, I am not counted in the statistics because I did not get tested, not to mention the people who have symptoms, but they do not rise to the level of needing to see a doctor). I learned that, yes, the toll on our economy is brutal, but the virus is way more brutal.

Stay at home if you can. Stay safe.

i recall thinking that her band members were all rather tall.

 

i also had a camera die on me before that show started which was a drag... but that's why i bring two. 

i will start bawling if he does any of the Purple Mountains material.

 

 

That is so funny that you remember her band members being tall - I have the same memory. And skinny, too. They looked like they stepped right off the set of Almost Famous.

Yes, you’re right. That show in Boston was webcast along with the next night in Concord, NH. I was at both shows, so I never had a memory of being home for the webcast. I was so excited that both shows would be available in excellent quality. Actually, I sat behind Grace Potter & her band at the Concord show. And I also sat next to tinnitus (Tim).

I remember now. I did not go to Boston, but I was at the Concord and Hartford shows (Hartford may have been on a different leg of the same tour?). I remember seeing Grace Potter a few rows back and in the section to the left of me.

Great shows.

Great idea on the Monday reminder about the initial Solid Sound announcement. Seems like yesterday that he announced that from the stage in Boston; I believe that night's show was simulcasted. At least I think I remember hearing Jeff announce it, even though I was not there in person.

Those "Evening With" shows were epic. Loved the mid-show acoustic set, when they brought out the lamps, etc.

I've thought a lot about Ventilator Blues this past week as well.

I've watched parts of several nights. That's How I Got to Memphis floored me.

 

Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council, was fired today and escorted out of the White House by security.  

His twin brother Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, an ethics lawyer for the NSC, was also dismissed from his job today.

 

That's what dictators do. Or narcissistic babies.

I hope MLB comes down even harder on the Red Sox. Ex-manager Cora should get at least a 2 year suspension (given his role in two teams' cheating), Dombrowski a year, and the 5 million dollar fine. I could see more lost draft picks than the Astros, given the Red Sox got caught cheating in 2017 (which led to MLB's warning all teams about stealing signs).

And I say that as a Red Sox fan.

^^^^Love Joe Henderson's playing - I'll have to check out this reissue.

Wilco & Robyn Hitchcock!

That is a great bill. I think I have said it here before, but I continue to be surprised that six Solid Sounds have come and gone, and Hitchcock has yet to play at one. That may get rectified in 2021. Saturday afternoon, courtyard D (with a full band) or C (solo).

That is really good news. They are on my bucket list of bands to see, but they have been lower on that list without Frusciante. I may have to pull the trigger on seeing them now.

Nice with camper too? Enjoy

I don't think so. Opener is Leland Sundries. Set lists appear to be all Cracker in the past 2 weeks. Looks like I'll get my fill of Cracker.

Cracker.

I found the time when Mikael was playing a laptop to be really odd visually. And after the full on rock of the earlier tours, it was a hard shift for me to make as a fan. I remember going to their shows, about one a year at that time, and wondering who would be in the band. I clearly recall going to see them in the summer of '04 and trying to figure out who the new, lanky mad scientist-type was playing lead guitar. So much movement in and out of the band over the course of those 5-6 years!

Cool! If my memory is correct, that's the video that was showed during the Genelec Surround Sound installation at Solid Sound. 

That looks like the same footage as from that installation.

Let us not forgot John's jumping spread leg bass kick during "I Got You". 

Love that. Wish I had been there to see it.

And what are the odds that when the tour finishes, Chris and Rich announce that they hate each other and the band is done for good?

A few random thoughts:

 

- Congrats to the Nats. You were a fun team to watch, and we're all the better for you guys doing what you did. Addendum: Zimmerman, retire. Go out on top. You're an ambassador for the game now. Don't 'chase the dragon.

 

-. Willson Contreras is rumored to be very available. I almost cannot believe that. 

 

- Is Cole the first 40 million dollar man?

The Nats were awfully fun to watch. I'd be surprised if he makes 40 million a year, though I think if someone like him would go for a 2-3 year deal instead of 7 years, 40 million might be attainable. Three years, 120 million would make much more sense to me if I were a GM than the 217 million, 7 year albatross that David Price received.