Hixter

I paid $525 (face value) for a single ticket to see the Who in Los Angeles about a dozen years ago. I was looking to buy 3 cheaper tickets for myself, my son and my friend, but when the online sale began I checked for a single ticket and drew one in the front row, so I bought it. My son and my friend ended up about 80 rows behind me.

 

I was just about the only non-celeb in our little roped-off area. I sat next to members of Kiss, Anthrax, Chili Peppers, Ashley Judd, John Cusack and the guy who knocked up Liz Hurley. (He was with a Baywatch girl.)

I was hoping they'd screen the Solid Sound documentary.

I wish old Pete would break out the SG and HIWATT amps.

Likewise. I'd even settle for the Les Pauls that came later.

I'm seeing them in Austin in a few days. Joan Jett opened the first show I saw in 1982 and she's opening this tour, too. I've assumed that every show I've seen since 1982 would be my last, so it'll be a nice bookend if it turns out to be.

The notion that blacks voted for Obama because he is black is a fairly racist notion. Gore received 92% of the black vote and Kerry 88%. More blacks may have actually voted in the Ibama elections than previously, but that can be due to inspiration.

Yes, they were inspired to vote because of Obama's race. I'm not saying that every African American voted for Obama solely based on his skin color, but I'd reckon that for every person who voted against Obama because of his race, there's a person who voted for him because of his race. As I said, it may be unfortunate and unpleasant, but it's the truth.

And the same will be true of Hillary: some Republicans and Democrats will base their votes -- yea or nay -- on her gender. 

Why Hillary Clinton would make the perfect US president

 

Not because she’s flawless – she’s not – but because her election would signal that the US was no longer happy to squander the talent of anyone who happens to have ovaries.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/13/hillary-clinton-perfect-us-president-squander-talent-ovaries

Have you seen American prime time television in the last decade?

Their reality is far different from my reality.

I'm glad that the cable networks and Netflix are stepping up their game. I don't even watch any American network television now that Parks & Rec went off the air.

Unless they are democratic African American voters, or democratic woman voters.  Because only those people vote based upon race and gender.  You seem to have a double standard here.   

You'll notice that my response to your comment about millions of people voting for Romney because he was white was "The truth is the truth, no matter how unpleasant or unfortunate it is."

But they weren't all from the south, they weren't all Republicans and they weren't all white.

From Facebook:

Due to an urgent family health matter, Nels Cline and Julian Lage have rescheduled their shows tonight in Northampton, MA to October 22 and Saturday's show in Portland, ME to October 21. Tomorrow's shows at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT is cancelled.

10/21 - SPACE Gallery - Portland, ME
10/22 - The Parlor Room - Northampton, MA (2 shows)

If that were true you would have seen Herman Cain do a lot better in 2012 and Ben Carson having greater numbers then he does now.  

Cain never made it onto the ballot; he stopped his campaign after sexual misconduct allegations arose.

I give the electorate plenty of credit, in fact that's why I bristle when people infer that Republicans and southerners are racist, etc.

I'll let that attempt at making fun of me pass.

I was complaining about the author of the article, not you. Sorry if you were offended, I certainly didn't intend to do so.

I posted the article. He wrote that it was aimed at simpleminded readers. You wouldn't draw a connection?

Again, sorry if I offended you. Someone can read an article aimed at influencing/"informing" simpleminded readers while not being simpleminded himself. My groans were aimed at the author who claimed that Republicans are intent on war with Iran, destroying the economy and ruining the planet, and anyone who would believe such propaganda. 

Other than a few (I'm One, Slip Kid, The Seeker), it looks like a greatest hits tour. Not much on the mixes and misses, and a lot on the hits and picks. I love the set list, but not exactly what I was expecting/hoping. A Let's See Action/Join Together/Relay mix would be a great addition.

I Can See for Miles, Pictures of Lilly, Magic Bus and A Quick One are also rarely played, so that makes about 1/3 of the show relatively fresh compared to the set lists of the last 20 years. I think I've only heard them play two of them over the last 33 years and 30+ shows, so I'm happy. Someone sad that the printed set list contained So Sad About Us, so that's another rarity.

It's a celebration of 50 years of music by a couple of 70-year-olds who effectively stopped recording 35 years ago, so I'll take what I can get.

So we are just gonna let this slide, eh?  Imagine if I said millions of people voted for Mitt Romney because he was white. 

The truth is the truth, no matter how unpleasant or unfortunate it is.

http://www.forwardprogressives.com/reality-hillary-clinton-liberals-need-face/

It really breaks down to these two options: Either get on board with Hillary Clinton, even if she’s not everything you’ve dreamed of. - or – Whine and cry because Elizabeth Warren isn’t going to run, become apathetic, then let Republicans win the White House in 2016; likely replace four Supreme Court Justices over the following 8 years; start a war with Iran; ruin the planet; destroy our economy again; and undo all the good that’s been done these last 6 years. Yes, it’s really that simple.

No, it's really not that simple, although partisan politics would like simpleminded readers to believe it's so.

The set list from the tour's opening night in Tampa last night:

I Can't Explain

Substitute

The Seeker

Slip Kid

Who Are You

The Kids Are Alright

I Can See For Miles

Pictures of Lily

My Gen

Magic Bus

Behind Blue Eyes

Join Together

You Better You Bet

I'm One

Love Reign

Eminence Front

A Quick One

Amazing Journey/Sparks

Pinball Wizard

See Me, Feel Me

Baba O'Riley

Won't Get Fooled Again

don't you mean "not Mitt Romney"?

No, I meant George W. Bush. Remember "change" and the "reset" of relations with Russia? Transparency and the closing of Gitmo? Peace prizes and an end to wars in the Middle East and Asia? Just more empty promises from a politician trying to get elected. Same old same old.

I suspect Hixter is whistling past the graveyard on this one...still coming to terms with the looming prospect of President Hillary.

Nope, I just don't expect her to win. As I said, I doubt she'll even get the nomination. To be honest, I would much rather have had her in the White House than our current president, but I think she's past her prime and her party could find a better candidate. She'll be as old as Reagan was on Inauguration Day and I don't think we need another 70-year-old at the helm.

Hillary has three things going for her: truckloads of money (although she's calling for big money to be removed from politics), name recognition (but there's that whole dynasty thing) and the fact that she's a woman. I would hate to think that people would vote vote for her based upon her sex, but millions of people voted for President Obama because he was African American and "not George Bush," so who knows.

She just doesn't have much to point to when it comes to her accomplishments. All most people will remember are the scandals and, yes, they are real scandals. The e-mail thing shows just how little regard she has for laws and transparency. The Russians are rattling sabers, the Chinese are menacing Asia and the Middle East is uglier than ever and she's going to have to explain how a lot of it happened on her watch as SoS. So she's going to have to throw Obama under the bus and blame it all on him at some point.

If I were her I'd just stick with my lucrative speaking career and let someone younger take the reins.

Hillary's campaign has been laughable so far. She was "a lock" in 2008 and didn't even manage to win the nomination. My prediction is that she won't even be in the race by the time of the convention. I think she'll throw in the towel and blame it on her health or a desire to spend time with her grandchild.

Quadrophenia is the featured album on BBC 6 and right now they're airing an interview with Pete Townshend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music

The Who

A Quick One While He's Away

I Can See For Miles

Won't Get Fooled Again

I'm One

In A Hand Or A Face

I haven't paid much attention to him in the past, but a young, Spanish-speaking candidate is definitely worth watching. The last thing we need is another 70-year-old in the White House.

I just did a little Googling and it appears that Rubio and I attended the University of Florida at the same time, so at least we'll have a favorite sports team in common. I also found a nice remembrance that he posted when my former father-in-law passed away a few years ago. It seems they were friends and served together in the Florida Legislature. Maybe I'll get to spend a night in the Lincoln Bedroom if he's elected.

Oh my God. You're Hank Hill, aren't you?

Close enough; we're drinking beer on the street from Friday at 3 PM until sometime Sunday night. Every. Single. Week.

Hank would be disappointed to hear that I'm converting my propane-fired brewing rig to an all-electric unit.

Coolship Resurgam is brewed with Pilsner malt, raw wheat and aged hops. The beer is cooked overnight using outside air temperature in a traditional large shallow pan known as a "coolship." During the cooling process, naturally occurring microflora from the air inoculates the beer, and in the morning it is transferred into French oak wine barrels where the entire fermentation and aging takes place.

It took me a second to realize that "cooked" was a typo. 

Sounds like a great beer, but I don't know that I'd have the balls to expose thousands of gallons of wort to the open air in the hopes that only "good" yeast and bacteria would settle on it. I've been meaning to try to capture some local wild yeast. I should get on that.

No and no.

There's a beer fridge in every garage in my neighborhood and they all have at least a case of Coors Light for public consumption; we don't even ask before walking into someone's garage and grabbing a can. That's about as far as I stoop, beer-wise.

Real Ale Hans' Pils is unquestionably the best.

I tend to buy that more than the Firestone Walker because it is much easier to find on the shelves at local stores. I'm glad that more and more beers are being canned, now that pool season is almost upon us.

But, now that it's getting warm I might have to see which American micro-brew can make the best fake pilsner.

I like Firestone Walker's Pivo.

I noticed that the International Space Station would pass overhead a few times yesterday, so I tuned my scanner to 145.8 MHz and connected the audio output to my PC's sound card input. I ran a freeware Slow Scan Television (SSTV) decoder and received a few commie images like the one below. It takes 3 minutes to transmit/receive the image. It's essentially a fax sent via radio, instead of telephone lines.

Anyone with access to a scanner or radio that can tune to 145.8 MHz can do the same thing if there are ISS passes overhead.

don't be afraid of Denver pot smokers. join them in a 4/20 celebration:

http://www.ogdentheatre.com/events/detail/268371

I smoked half of Colombia back in the 70s and 80s, but I have no desire to smoke weed anymore. It's so potent these days that it seems like a real drug and it's just not fun anymore.

My friends are big smokers, but they are not happy about all the crusty, dreadlocked vagrants who have migrated to Denver and beg for weed and change all day. They're even talking about moving out of the city.

I have friends in Denver, but they're dope-smoking punks and they say that Boulder is full of dope-smoking hippies, so we rarely venture into the city. Maybe we can check it out the next time I'm in Denver for the Great American Beer Festival.