Mr. Heartbreak

I really consider myself a member of the human race first and an American second. I do find it (and have always found it) bizarre the way so many of my countrymen tally tragedies only in terms of American deaths...as if the deaths of others are somehow of less value. Even on the progressive left, many fall victim to this. For example, during the Iraq war, there was a constant drumbeat about the mounting number of American casualties - who were, after all, military personnel, and knew what they signed up for - but almost no mention of the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians, many

http://www.ibtimes.com/us-embassy-attacks-and-bombings-recent-history-782665 Benghazi is the biggest non-story the right have latched onto since the birther nonsense. Embassies get attacked often; it is, sadly, almost par for the course (see the above article). The right have tried to make this a Watergate moment by declaring, "The lies told about the incident were bigger crimes than the incident itself," but it's a load of absolute horseshit. If the people there did not get enough support fast enough, that is a terrible thing, but let's be honest: if you go to Pakistan or Syria or Iraq or a

Exactly. So, left for me.

I would have to put Joni at the top of that list.

Seconded.

Sure! I've gotta be of some service around here...

Okay, so let's just say we accept your premise. The administration lied. Bush lied (Iraq/WMD), and then 4,000 died. Obama lied (Benghazi), after 4 died. I'll take those odds. Hillary 2016!

And next week PBS is airing the Jimi Hendrix episode of American Masters: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/jimi-hendrix/film-jimi-hendrix-hear-my-train-a-comin/2660/

For me it's Brokedown Palace. Nothing tops the original version of that one. Quite a few others, too, some well-known, some not so well-known. Off the top of my head: Frank Zappa - Camarillo Brillo Phil Ochs - Pleasures of the Harbor (Live) Neal Casal - On the Mend Pink Floyd - Chapter 24 John Coltrane - Mr. P.C. Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna (Live 1966 version)

Lou and VU were a big part of the soundtrack of my life at a very dark time, and not in a "good influence" way. I was spiraling down into a chemical haze, and if I had not straightened out, I would have found myself going for opiates. Used to listen to The Velvet Underground and Nico quite a bit. "Heroin" sounded like something I could relate to... Fortunately, I got my shit together and straightened out completely: no drugs or alcohol for over 24 years now. I put the VU albums on a shelf for a while, but at a certain point was able to get back into listening, and even expand the collection.

Nope.

I must admit, after reading a lot of hype I was not impressed by The Minutemen. Kind of a one-trick pony, I'd say.

Every time I see another corn pone Caribou Barbie quote, I am reminded of this: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." People like her have a truly warped view of America. Instead of celebrating our diversity, they long for some idealized version of the past, where everyone looked alike (white), and we all waved the flag at the Veteran's Day parade right before going to our Baptist services. They really believe this shit. Fortunately, we keep moving forward without them (civil rights, marriage equality), and when they die, they will be thrown

Seconded.

Nope, could not get past the first 20 seconds of that. I am a huge fan of all sorts of instrumental music, just not his. Don't care for the Clash either. If I want to hear 3 chord rock, I'll take The Who. Always surprised me how highly people rated them. I think it was more about politics and attitude than about any kind of musicianship, but that's just my opinion.

Seconded. Jeff Beck may be a hall of famer, but he bores me to tears.

I went ahead and preordered this to check them out. Sounds like some good fall driving music, and not a bad deal price wise. Looking forward to it.

If anything, the ACA will expose the insurance companies as the greedy bloodsuckers they truly are. I have had my premiums in the past rise as much as 16% across the board for the entire company. And this was before the ACA legislation was ever introduced. I guess they don't make enough from auto, home, and life insurance.

The release of previously unheard material from '69-'70 was what sucked me into the subscription. Some of that volume was wonderful, but some was horrendous and should never have been released IMHO. I am also a (very limited) seller on Amazon, so if I am underwhelmed by a release I will resell it for less than the other sellers. God bless capitalism.

Hope we both enjoy it. I have to admit that after getting three 2013 subscription picks, I don't trust the guy's judgment at all. If I buy any next year, it will likely be individual releases.

If you're already buying individual shows, we got ya. Welcome aboard!

From the "Seaside Chat" Incredible Gorgeous Wonderful Great Awesome Exceptional Definitive Epic Beautiful Outstanding These are the words Lemieux uses to describe the show. This jamoke really oversells every single release.

Well, okay, there are limits. I hate to complain at all, because it's such a great release, but like most things, I guess it's a mixed bag. The audio is nice, though, and that Bird Song really is quite a definitive version, for my money. Anyone familiar with 11/30/80 care to comment on the new Dave's Pick? I am resisting the temptation to listen to it on archive.org, because I want to be surprised.

Whoever created that shit must have eaten the brown acid at Woodstock or something. Pretty much anything would have been better than that. A few ideas for what they could have done instead (not that it matters now): 1) Recycle crowd video from earlier in the movie...who would notice the difference? 2) Dub in some more Kesey/Pranksters/whatever stuff, like what was in the first 10 minutes of the movie. 3) Still photos of the band 4) Still photos of the crowd 5) Serious, even just some other trippy visual that doesn't look like a bad Monty Python imitation would have been better.

Maybe the ACA site would work better if fewer people went on there to set up fake accounts they never intend to use. Just a thought.