Ursus Pacificus

Went to see the triple-bill of .38 Special, REO Speedwagon and Styx at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA last night. It was a good show, although .38 Special was… brief.

.38 Special doesn’t have the history, and the string of mainstream hits that REO and Styx had, so… I guess it’s not surprising that they weren’t up there that long.

REO did a fine job. Kevin Cronin still sings his balls off at every chance, although I have to say the hyperblond mini-fright-wig thing doesn’t suit him. I thought the video direction lacked something… the one point when Neal Doughty (Hammond Organist) really go to take off and “own the space” (in “Roll With The Changes”), the big screens were focused on guitarist Dave Amato wandering around the stage, playing accompaniment to Doughty’s solo.

Styx was clearly the prime act. The Illinois connection between Styx and REO seems to make them good compliments for live shows, despite their differing styles. Lawrence Gowan, now a ten-year fixture with Styx, as Dennis DeYoung’s replacement, is as enthusiastic and energetic and anyone could expect or hope for. Tommy Shaw and JY still work very well together, and virtuoso drummer Todd Sucherman keeps the band pulsing along with vigah.

The venue was a nice compromise between indoor and outdoor, and we were fortunate enough to have “inside seats”, as the weather was suboptimal, with periods of drizzle and rain throughout the show.

We’re going to see Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick tomorrow night… here’s hoping the weather holds out… since we’re not under the roof tomorrow

In light of all the dying that’s been going on in Hollywood lately, I got to thinking.

Ed McMahon, really was a poster boy for what’s wrong with humanity. Not that he WAS what’s wrong with humanity, but he was afflicted with what is wrong with humanity.

Our society seems to have a collective dream for immortality, but, as a society, we have no interest in supporting the people living the dream. Fifty years ago, if you lived to be 80, that was really something! Now, if you don’t live to 80 people think you were a self-abusive monster.

Poor Ed. He outlived his bankroll, and we all just watched, gasping through clenched teeth as he was reduced to dressing up as a rapper and doing “sell your gold” commercials. It’s sad. Sure, he was living the Hollywood life, and spending with vigor, but there’s plenty of people down here who are stuck on the same treadmill. Forced out of work because of mandatory retirement, but needing to work because inflation and corporate robber-barons Madoff with all their retirement savings. Relegated to minimum wage jobs to pay for their drugs so that can live longer, so they can work more, so they can pay for their drugs, so they can live longer…. Anybody remember that PSA?

What’s the difference?

Then, there’s Michael… always living way beyond his means….and way outside reality. Hmm… what could that be a metaphor for?

Then, there was Farrah. A little bit of Ed, a little bit of Michael, and a whole lot of 70’s living coming home to roost.

Each is sad in their own way, but each is also instructive. Take this chance to see past the tragedy, to the lessons these lives have to teach.

Huge, jam-packed NewsUndies

Bye-bye Kodachrome, Nixon tapes, Apple iLiver, MS Windows 7 upgrade path, Wacky gay-demon exorcisms, Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Mark Sanford, Pee Pucks falling from the sky!

Well, It’s been one month since I voluntarily left the ranks of the employed. Some said I was crazy. Some said I’d get bored in a week and go mad.

I’m pleased to report that I’m healthy, happy, and free of regret.

What have I been doing? Well… I’ve been kayaking, tweeting (as “newsundies”), producing NewsUndies shows, noodling in the studio, working on my house, hanging out with my GF… It’s been good.

I’ve actually been living much more cheaply than I was while I was working. I’m losing some weight, and feeling a lot better about myself and my situation.

Still smoke-free (six months, now). That was a concern, given how everyone said I’d get bored and go mad.

The only thing that could be better from my perspective is the weather… but I’m guessing that’ll improve as the season wears on.

As it is, I’ve kayaked close to 50 miles since leaving the working world, and almost couldn’t be happier. Of course, hitting the PowerBall, and never having to return to the “working world” would be cause for celebration… but … so far, no complaints

So, I’ll be continuing with NewsUndies (although I’ll be taking a couple weeks off from even THAT, this summer), which you can see at www.newsundies.com, and you can follow me on Twitter.

Whee!

So I’m out with my girlfriend and her 2 kids, at Friendly’s (a local casual dining and ice cream chain), enjoying “sprinkle time”… ice cream… possibly with sprinkles… we’re just about buttoning up the event, when this older lady… hard to peg her age… I’d say 65… maybe more… but rail thin, and kinda sickly/Crypt-Keeper-ey… comes up, and tells me what a lovely family I have.

Well.. My GF knows this lady is kinda asking for it… but… she keeps quiet.

I tell the lady, “No, I don’t.”

“Oh, of course… Don’t say that! They’re lovely!” She says enthusiastically.

“No, They’re not mine,” I say. It should be glaringly apparent… I have dark hair, hazel eyes and tan readily. The kids are blond and fair-skinned, just like mom.

The older lady’s no listening, because she’s too busy telling me how blessed I am by god to have such a lovely family.

So… I kinda thumb at my GF and say, “They’re hers.” She sheepishly raises her hand.

At this point, the boy pipes up, and reports that I don’t believe in god, nor does his mother, nor does his sister, nor does he. “We’re atheists!” he reports, gleefully… heartily… so the whole place can hear..

With incredulity, and without missing a beat, the nice lady asked how we could not feel the touch of god’s loving hand. I readily thought of a couple reasons, but kept them to myself… but I really couldn’t help laughing. The kids were laughing. My GF was laughing. It really was comedic… I mean, this lady was… like… on the prowl to say something nice to a man with a family on Fathers’ Day… and she picked me. She couldn’t be more wrong… and every time she opened her mouth, she just dug the hole that much deeper.

I sort of felt bad for her, her good intentions going oh, so wrong. But we were all laughing so hard that none of us noticed her walking away.

Buck, Jim, Tom and I got together and recorded a theme for the upcoming revamped NewsUndies intro. You can listen to it here: Dummyhead Songs Page

Like it? Hate it? You can comment here, Tweet us at twitter.com/newsundies, or email undies@newsundies.com

Of course, you can get all kinds of groovy NewsUndies merch at the KitschKave… and that helps to pay for me doing this crazy crap!

If you enjoy NewsUndies, tell your friends! You can always go to http://www.newsundies.com/ for the latest NewsUndies!

Thanks for watching!

Subscribe, Comment and Share… PLEEEAASSSE

It’s not like this happens every week!… oh, wait it does.

Some knownothing shitheel broke into my Rav and made off with my 3 year old tomtom. Idiot. Like it’s worth something on the black market. I don’t even think you can get firmware updates for it anymore. What’s worse is that it happened in my own driveway. So, now I’m waiting for a cop to show up so I can file a report. So, thanks to this numbnuts, I get to waste a perfect kayaking day. Even if I wasn’t going to file a police report, I’d still be cleaning glass out of the car for the better part of the day… And I get to waste tomorrow shopping around for a replacement window.

Shit

So I was working on the next set of celebrity birthdays, and I came across Jenny Jones as someone with a birthday coming up… so… Just out of curiosity, I looked her up on Wwikipedia, to see what she’s been up to lately… and then I made the mistake of clicking the “official website” link….

Not only is it a violation of every color-matching rule there is… Jenny’s glowing. You may have to watch it for about 45 seconds to see it happen… but… she really does glow yellow!

Oh, the horror!