The Dedly Blog

1976 is one of the thinnest years in my album collection. As far as the music industry was concerned, it was 1975 redux. In response to the tsunami of crap that was pouring out of recording studios, a backlash was rising. The Punk, New Wave, and Metal genres took root in the basements, garages, and backyards of the U.S. and Britain. Bands as diverse as The Fall, Ratt, Saxon, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, The Slits, The Clash, The B-52s, The Cramps, Madness, Surf Punks, Accept (Germany!), The Cure, Diamond Head, Generation X, Wire, and U2 all got their start in 1976. Yes, Boston, The Cars and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers got their start this year too. While Boston was an instant success with their self-titled album (an otherwise decent album played to the point of being unlistenable), the other two bands were still in development and would require a couple more years to break out of obscurity.

The Ramones? Oh they were already playing CBGB's and other clubs. They were leading the way.

Meanwhile, Deep Purple went into a death spiral. Blackmore's departure (to form Rainbow with Dio) was too much for the band. Their live shows went into total disarray. Bolin, Blackmore's replacement, wasn't what fans wanted and they let him know it. Unable to deal with the heckling, Bolin's performance suffered. Coverdale, who had replaced Ian Gillan, reportedly left the stage in tears realizing the band had played its last gig. Bolin died in December from "multiple drug intoxication."

There are albums from this year that I still need to track down: Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny, Led Zeppelin's Presence, and maybe that Tom Petty album. When I do, I'll come back and revisit this list. So don't bite my head off just yet.

I probably owe Rainbow's Rising another listen, though it didn't really work for me when my friend Ted (the biggest Dio fan in the world) raved incessantly about it.

AC/DC gave us High Voltage and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap but I've been more of a fan of their singles. And if I really want to hear them, there's always the radio. The same can be certainly said of The Eagles and Hotel California.

So what does that leave us? Not much, but really good stuff anyway.

Coming in at #3 is Virgin Killer from the Scorpions. It's a stupid title and the original album cover (not shown here) was tasteless. What seemed like art in the 70's was really an overzealous record label trying to boost sales through controversy. Of course, it certainly wouldn't be the last time that would happen. Anyway, on with the music.

The Scorpions shed the last of their psychedelia on this album. The guitars are harder (showing early signs of metal) and the songs rock out instead of carrying you away ("Catch Your Train"). "Crying Days" is a mix of the harder guitars with the older flower child lyrics. Oh, and their penchant for ballads begins here ("In Your Park"). These tracks were written by Rudy Schenker and Klaus Meine and highlight the future of the band.

The title track and "Hell Cat" are the more wild numbers (both from Roth). The former song type would evolve into their later fast numbers ("Dynamite") while the latter is just strange. Roth also wrote "Polar Nights" and "Yellow Raven". "Polar Nights" is Rudy's attempt to bridge past and future and he does a good job with it, particularly the intro. "Yellow Raven" closes the album and says goodbye to the band's musical past.

While the band was still a couple of albums away from radio success, the foundation had been laid.

The Ramones self-titled debut comes in at #2. "Blitzkrieg Bop" opens up the album like nothing anyone had ever heard before. It was just three chords but it chugged along like a locomotive. The opening vocal of "Hey Ho! Let's Go!" would become the signature catch phrase for the band. If there was one song that encapsulates everything about the Ramones, it would be this song.

And on it goes. Hit 'em fast and get out. With every song clocking in at 2:35 or less (Six of the fourteen tracks were under 2 minutes), there was no lingering around for waxing poetic or self-indulgent guitar solos.

The album just seemed to encapsulate growing up fast in the seedy New York urbanscape of the 70's: drugs, prostitution, horror movies, violence, and attitude. But the band wasn't trying to hurt anyone or make a statement. It was all about keeping it simple and making rock fun again. And on that, they succeeded.

Rush finally hit their stride with their sci-fi concept album, 2112. It's the story about a guy living in a totalitarian society who discovers a guitar, an instrument banned and forgotten. The rulers (the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx) reject him and destroy his guitar. After his death (from ennui?), "the elder race" return to overthrow the Solar Federation.

I was in junior high when I was introduced to this album (a few years after its release) and oh man it spoke to me. I had recently read Ayn Rand's Anthem in my Sociology class and was moved by it. Then my friends told me about this band where the drummer wrote lyrics and was influenced by Rand. And so began my forays into Rush and libertarianism.

Musically, the band found a way to perfectly merge their hard rock sound with their progressive influence. Keyboards make their first appearence but are done more for texture and effect. They lie squarely in the background. Gone were any accusations of being Zeppelin clones or Yes wannabes. Their identity was forged, not to mention their logo: naked man standing in front of the Red Star of the Solar Federation.

And the second half of the album is great too! "A Passage to Bangkok" is a global trip in search of grass. "The Twilight Zone" is obvious homage to the TV show.

"Lessons" and "Tears", lyrics by Lifeson and Lee respectively. While "Lessons" fits both musically and lyrically, "Tears" is an odd sort. It's a ballad driven by keyboards. It's the only song that doesn't fit on the album.

The album closes on "Something For Nothing", as in you can't get something for nothing. Apparently Peart got the idea when he saw graffiti stating, "Freedom isn't Free." It's a song that tells the listener to get off their ass and make their own destiny. Yeah, it was inspiring to me back then.

The first cd issue of the album is lame. The lyrics, story notes, and artwork are all missing. There's just the story blurb from the back cover. I've held onto the vinyl for nostalgia sake, and until I pony up the money for a reissue that does it right.

\_/
DED

After the English abandoned the Porter mantle, it lay forgotten here in the West. But unbeknownst to us ignorant Americans, the Eastern Europeans took up the cause. It wasn't until the Craft Beer Revolution that Porters resurfaced here in the States. We acted like we were heirs to the throne, but little did we know that the Baltic States never abandoned it.

Baltika is one of Russia's leading brewers. It survived the collapse of the Soviet Union and has flourished along with capitalism. It is now part of the Carlsberg Group and can be found in 60 countries including the good ol' USA.

Obviously, for this taste test I went straight to their porter, an homage to England from whence it came.

Rather than an Imperial assault, this brew has an unassuming, yet rich aroma when you open the bottle. Once it's in your glass it revels in its dark brown body but isn't coy about flashing its ruby undertones. An ample and stable tan head rises to the top. Even when its had a chance to breathe, it remains shy. Oh but the taste is so smooth. As per the style, hops are in the background while the chocolate malt sweetness is the main attraction. A slight, naughty alcohol presence (7.0% ABV) gives you a kiss as the finish slides down like velvet.

This is one heavenly beer. Now if only they could market it here without being cheesy.

While Baltika went with an English-style recipe, BOSS Browar Witnica went Baltic, a stronger, more robust version.

The moment you open the bottle, the chocolate and roasted malts make their presence known. It's brown on the pour and rests in your glass with a dark brown body. It's ruby tones a bit more hidden than Baltika. Hops are more prominent than Baltika but not by much. There's the malt profile is rich with caramel, chocolate and roasted malts. While it has a smooth and sweet finish, the 9.4% ABV gives you a bit of a slap just to make sure you know who you're messing with.

I really enjoyed both selections. They're a little hard to find around here though. Porters aren't popular, nor are Eastern European imports (Belgium, Germany and Britain are the dominant European imports). Still, they're worth tracking down and sampling (I only found large, single bottles), just keep track of how many you put away.

\_/
DED

Here's the list of books that I've reviewed over at the New Podler Review of Books for the second half of 2011, plus the first entry of this year.

The Egyptian by Layton Green. A thriller involving corporate espionage over a longevity serum.

Heartbeasts by Rick Boven. A trio of illustrated stories about matters of the heart.

Mirror Shards. An anthology about the impact of augmented reality upon society. Highly recommended for sci-fi fans.

The Cloven by R. Muir. Not your typical Satan soul stealing story.

He Who Shall Remain Shameless by David Michael Ewald. A novel that contemplates whether or not anyone truly dies in the Internet Age.

Derby Scribes 2011 Anthology. The Derby writers group and their guests put together an anthology. No theme here. It's a mix of stories by established and rookie authors.

As before, a mix of genres, formats, quality and style.

\_/
DED

In case there was any doubt before that we live in an aristocracy, here it is laid out in a graphic. Congress doesn't represent you (unless you're rich of course). They can't identify with what you're going through. People complained that W lived in a bubble. I'd say that Congress lives in a bubble.

You can read more about these figures, here, here, and here. This article is related.

But here's the truly damning part is this bit from the Washington Post:

"...the median wealth of House members grew some two and a half times between 1984 and 2009 in inflation-adjusted dollars, while the wealth of the average American family has actually declined slightly in that same time period...

Considering the cries of "class warfare" we hear from the pundits in the media and Capitol Hill, I'd say that they're just trying to save their own hides, not yours.
\_/
DED

Although Hurricane Irene had been downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it made landfall in Connecticut, it still packed a wallop to the state. Thousands of trees were knocked down and crashed into power lines. The storm didn't sound all that bad while it was raging. I've heard much worse storms both here and when I lived in Florida. The wind gusts peaked at around 4AM. I remember lying in bed thinking, "Is this finally it?" The power went out shortly thereafter, though it hadn't sounded that bad.

Other than a few branches in my yard, we were spared any damage. As it didn't seem that bad, I wondered why the power was out. So, we went for a walk. Here's what we found:
And way down the street was another one.

You can't see it, but there's yet another one back there.

We're always one of the last streets in town to get plowed after a snowstorm so I knew we were going to have to wait a while before those trees were going to be removed.

When we first moved here, power outages were common. I made it a habit to keep several gallons of water on hand along with batteries and candles. Two years ago, my wife got me a rain barrel for Christmas. We used the water it collected to flush toilets.

Still, there was a problem with food spoilage. Our fridge is only a couple of years old so it has improved energy efficiency and insulation. But that only goes so far. The kids and I (the new school year was now delayed) went on ice runs each day, but as time wore on, it became harder and harder to find.

On day three, I received word that my brother-in-law was willing to sell us his spare generator. He'd bought a quieter and more powerful unit for his camper and no longer needed the older model.

That evening we started up the beast. It was loud and only put out 1500 watts. I ran it long enough to chill off the fridge but I had to turn it off so we could sleep. I'm sure my neighbors appreciated that.

On day four, the kids were going stir crazy. We took a friend up on an offer for a play date and, since they had power, much needed showers.

A line crew from southern Ohio showed up on the morning of the fifth day to cut down the trees and repair the wires. I walked down the street and thanked the first guy I met. After four days and six hours, we had our power restored.

Little did we know that two months later we'd have to go through all of this again. And it was worse.

A snow storm in October? You've got to be kidding me. Oh, we'll only get two to four inches. Nothing serious.

Wow. Were we ever wrong.

Seventeen inches! That would be a major bad ass snowstorm in a normal winter month! But this was October. Many oaks and the Norway maples still have leaves. This was insane.

My kids had soccer games that morning. Tammy was Alex and I was with Rebecca. It started snowing at noon (the forecast had said three) and it came down fast. The other parents and I asked the game to be called. The score was something like 7-2 and there wasn't any sense in continuing. I called Tammy and told her to just go home after Alex's game rather than meeting us.

As soon as we got home, I scrambled to bring wood in for the stove (another life saver when the power goes out). The snow was piling up fast and sticking to everything. Branches were weighed down from the snow accumulating on their leaves. I went around and shook several of the ornamental trees in hopes that it would be enough. Forecasts were now calling for 8 to 12 inches. I was really hoping that they'd be wrong.

We weren't surprised when the power kicked off at around 5. We watched helplessly all that afternoon as trees sagged under the weight of the snow. The weaker branches began to snap. After the kids went to bed, Tammy and I stayed up and read by candlelight and our wind-up LED lantern. Every so often, we'd hear a tree limb crack and then a mighty thud. We'd then take my best flashlight (a Craftsman, with the rechargeable battery pack you can use for power tools) and shine it outside in hopes of seeing something. We could see some damage but we knew we wouldn't grasp the full extent of the damage until the morning.

Honestly, it sounded like the end of the world that night.

Miraculously, our house was spared any damage.

This next picture is of our Japanese Maple. Its purple foliage turns fire engine red about two weeks before Thanksgiving and then it falls off. Here's it looks crushed. One of the leaders has snapped off.

Once the snow melted, enough of the tree remained that it looks salvageable.

Our Swamp Magnolia (center right) is lost in the snow. I have a post-melt picture of it which appears below. The entire crown was lost. I think enough of the side branches survived that it can make a comeback.

We lost two Dogwoods that grow along our driveway. There's a chance that they'll come back but 15+ years of growth are gone. Here's a Maple that split and fell into our driveway.

Panning right, you can see the extent of that Maple as well as limbs from one of the twin mighty Red Maples down in the driveway. Its southern twin already lost its leaves and was thus spared any damage. A basketball hoop (stained green) is there for context.

Pulling back, you can see the whole backyard.

Tammy joined in the effort to clear the driveway. Obviously before I could use the snowblower, we had to clear the tree debris, which meant a lot of chain saw action. We were quite tired that night.

Getting power back proved to be more problematic this time. While our street was clear of damaged lines, there was plenty of carnage elsewhee. But this time we had the generator from the start. No ice runs. Fortunately, I had enough water left over from Irene that we were ok. While the snow gradaully melted over the next few days, the power didn't come back as fast. This time we went six days without power. If we didn't have the wood stove, we would've had to abandon the house from the cold.

Ten days after the storm, I took some more pictures. A good portion of the debris had been cleaned up, but there was plenty more to be had.

The Magnolia, pictured at right, still had its leaves. Had the crown still been attached you would not be able to see any of the trees in the top half of this picture.

Below are all of the branches severed from the Magnolia. That black object next to the pile is a 5 gallon bucket.

It's tough to get a good perspective on the carnage. There are more pictures but they fail to capture a sense of what came down.

Here's a tree from my East neighbor's yard that came crashing down into mine.

A big Black Oak lost its crown and smashed everything in its path on the way down.

I have more pictures but it's hard to get a sense of what you're seeing from them. Two other Black Oaks that tower over the backyard lost leaders that ranged from 15-30 feet in length while a Black Birch lost 30 feet. One of those Black Oaks still has a 20 foot crown still dangling over the ground, blocking my last Eastern Red Cedar. I don't know what's keeping it up there but I suspect I'm going to have to hire a professional to take it down.

As winter is almost upon us, we'll forget about the destruction for a while. Next spring will be a reminder as damaged trees heal their wounds and sprout new shoots. Some trees may be too far gone. With their cambrium exposed, opportunistic insects and disease will push the weaker ones over the edge. I wouldn't be surprised if the state suffered from a rash of spotty power outages as damaged trees die and fall over. We might be able to prevent some of them if the company (CL&P) that owns the lines steps up its line maintenance program and if homeowners recognized that power lines and tree limbs don't mix.

\_/
DED

I've been terribly remiss in keeping up with this theme. Maybe if I keep the reviews short I'll be able to pick up the pace.

The decadence of the 1970's was in full swing. The idealism of the 60's was now dead and gone, replaced by the "Me Decade." Disco rose to prominence and all anyone wanted to do was shake their booty. "Free love" gave way to pure hedonism. The music industry shoveled out shit from drug and sex-addled musicians to maximize profits.

But in the underground, a revolution was brewing.

1975 wasn't a total loss. There was some good music despite the influx of crap. Rush rejected the excesses and put out two albums. Led Zeppelin stayed sober long enough to put out an album and Pink Floyd shined a light on what could be found underneath the rock.

Fly by Night was the first Rush album recorded with Neil Peart. Peart's impact upon the band can not be overstated. Not only was Peart ten times better on the drums but he would become the band's main lyricist. Eschewing the standard rock music subject matter, Peart would go on to incorporate fantasy, science fiction, philosophical and political themes into the band's songs.

Musically, the band strayed from their Zeppelin-ish roots and forged their own sound and direction. "Anthem" (Peart was inspired by Ayn Rand in the early days) kicks off the album and is followed by "Best I Can" (Geddy Lee), both are rockers that inspire self-reliance and independence. "Beneath, Between & Behind" sounds like revolution between the riffs.

"Fly by Night", the title track, got some airplay as Peart recollected his days traveling to England. "Making Memories" is similar, a young band on its way up trying to stay upbeat as it deals with the loneliness of the road.

The band began to explore fantasy themes. "Rivendell" is a mellow homage to the namesake in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. "By-Tor & the Snow Dog" is a mythical battle between the demon, By-Tor, and his nemesis, the Snow Dog. It's quite the jam as guitar and bass duel back and forth with abandon.

The album closes with a defiant number called "In the End". It's a slower blues rock number which sounds more like a slide backwards to the first album.

With Caress of Steel, Rush dove headlong into the concept album idea. They get their regular songs out of the way first. "Bastille Day" starts the album with a homage to the French Revolution. "I Think I'm Going Bald" and "Lakeside Park" are reflections of aging and life gone by. The former is a defiant rocker while the latter is a drive by rocker that slows down for the chorus and the last refrain.

Side one ends with "The Necromancer", are dark and brooding fantasy piece about a mighty sorcerer who oppresses the land and his ultimate comeuppance. The song opens dark and somber ("Into the Darkness") with Lifeson's guitar evoking Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs" (to me at least). The middle part, "Under the Shadow," picks a more aggressive approach musically. As the "three travelers" confront the Necromancer they struggle to fight him off but fail. But in the end By-Tor (apparently the beast had a change of heart) joins the fight and an epic jam takes place. The last part, "Return of the Prince", is all happy music time as people celebrate the vanquishing of the Necromancer. It reminds me of something that Yes would do, like on Relayer.

Side two is the conceptual part of the album: "The Fountain of Lamneth." It chronicles the story of a young man who seeks said fountain whereupon the meaning of life will be conveyed. I think it's ambitious considering the point in their career. It hints at the promise of great things to come.

Led Zeppelin continued on their juggernaut with the double album, Physical Graffiti. As this album has received its fair share of press, I'll try to be brief.

The album's planned eight songs turned out to be too long to put on a single record, so the band went back and grabbed some older material that hadn't been released in order to fill up two full records. Far from being outcasts, these extra seven songs rounded out the album. While its foundation is squarely in bluesy hard rock, there's enough diversity to this collection of material without resorting to the wild stabs of experimentation found on Houses of Holy. Thus the album comes across as more cohesive.

It's a fantastic album and while I've put it away from time to time, when I return to it I can find some new aspect to enjoy.

This was Zeppelin's last great album. Things went downhill from here.

After releasing the greatest album of all time, Pink Floyd returned from the world to create Wish You Were Here.
Like Dark Side of the Moon, I would listen to my parents play this album as I tried to fall asleep. But the music was so different that it offered completely different imagery. I realize now that "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" was loosely based on the LSD forced departure of Syd Barrett, but I didn't know that at the time.

The album opens and closes with "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," a mellow suite of music that offers its performers a chance at a relaxed jam between guitar, saxophone and synthesizers. Jazz and blues elements pop in and out of existence. As the band members were fairly exhausted after touring, the song sounds like they're easing their way back into the studio.

With all the mechanical sound effects and pulsing bass line, "Welcome to the Machine" has a cold, sinister feel. For me, it always felt sci-fi-ish; that whatever you chose to do was pre-ordained by some futuristic government run collective a la 1984 (though I didn't read Orwell until high school). Free will was an illusion: "You are the way you are because we made you." While it was intended to portay the music industry as an unfeeling, soulless entity, "Have a Cigar" was more obvious in its railings (you know the words).

The title track summoned up images of deserts and other desolate places for me. Maybe it was the crispy acoustic guitar accompanied by the wind. The lyrics always struck me as trading hard fought integrity for comfort and ease. The last stanza is the recognition that despite all the changes in our individual lives, on the grander scale, nothing has changed and all we can hope for is the comfort of someone close to us.

But maybe I'm reading to much into it.

\_/
DED

Ah October, the time for pumpkins. While we've had pumpkin pie since colonial times, it's a little known fact that pumpkins were used in beer since then as well. As malt didn't come cheap in the early colonies, pompion was used as a partial substitute.

Ok, I didn't know that either.

Anyway, as craft brewers continue their zeal for experimentation, pumpkin ales started creeping into the market a few years ago. This year, I decided to give two of them a shot.

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale clocks in at 5.6% ABV, which is pretty solid. The pour is amber with a strong orange complement. The ample head is cream-colored over a hazy orange-amber body. There's a faint aroma of spices.

The hops start the show on your tongue and are followed by splashes of pumpkin, cinnamon and other spices that I can't identify but I definitely associate with pumpkin pie. It has a decidedly tingly finish, but isn't dry.

As I'm on their mailing list, I received a bit more information than the website provides.

Other autumnal releases include the annual double batch of Pumpkin Ale, which uses 200 pounds of organic Dickinson pumpkins from Blueberry Bay Farm in Stratham, NH. Subtle additions of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and ginger add subtle flavors of pumpkin pie.

So after reading that I can say, yeah, I notice some of that. Maybe not the cloves, but the allspice and nutmeg certainly. And the ginger would certainly contribute to that tingle.

I'll have to save a bottle and try it with some pumpkin pie.

The other pumpkin ale is Harpoon's UFO Pumpkin. The popular unfiltered hefeweizen formula gets a kick of pumpkin and associated spices. BeerAdvocate says that the alcohol content is 5.9% ABV. I couldn't find anything on the packaging or the website to confirm it.

This version has a stronger pumpkin spice aroma in the glass. An ample light cream head tops the expected hazy orange amber body. It has less of a hoppy bite than Smuttynose's offering, which isn't surprising to me as this is a wheat beer and they're not known to be highly hopped. It fades on the finish. Judging from the taste, I'd expect there to be a similar spice mix.

Both of these beers are good. If you're a Harpoon fan, then their pumpkin offering will work for you as well. If you want to stray from the relative safety, opt for the Smuttynose. Both of these are limited seasonals and it's pretty obvious to anyone who's made a pumpkin pie from scratch. No, not with canned pumpkins. I'm talking actual pumpkins. My wife did it once. Not likely to ever happen again. So if you want to try these guys, get them now because they'll be gone by the end of the month.

\_/
DED

In the early 90's, Kyuss arose from the California desert to help forge the foundation for what has become known as stoner rock. It's a crappy moniker but it stuck. Yeah, the music can be trippy and evoke spacey imagery but that's what makes it great! The style is a mixture of pscyhedelia and the doom metal sound of Black Sabbath. The music is bass heavy with a thick guitar sound. There are no caterwauling vocals, screeching guitar solos or spandex.

While compatible with grunge, it didn't explode onto the musical consciousness. There has been no Nirvana equivalent. But that may be a good thing. The world burned out on grunge while stoner rock has grown a small but devout community of fans.

Kyuss put out four albums and broke up just as they were headed out on the road as an opener for a well known band whose name escapes me. I never got to see them play live and my friends and I were crushed by their demise.

After the break up, the band members continued on in different bands but they had less success than Kyuss. Josh Homme, the guitar player, and the original bassist, Nick Oliveri, formed Queens of the Stone Age and became very successful. Oliveri was eventually fired and Homme went on to stardom.

Kyuss' singer, John Garcia, played several shows as a tribute to his old band. Eventually, just as in The Blues Brothers, he got the band back together, except for Homme who feels that Kyuss is the past and should be left there as a monument to great music. Garcia gathered together the rest of the original line up of Nick Oliveri on bass and Brant Bjork on drums under the moniker of Kyuss Lives!

I bought tickets for the Terminal 5 show in NYC not long after they went on sale. This was a "bucket list" event for me and I didn't want to risk the show selling out. I wasn't concerned about quality as they'd played several dates already. I figured that if there were any kinks they'd be worked out.

Well, I'm here to say that Kyuss fans shouldn't worry about Homme's absence at the concerts. New guitarist, Bruno Fevery, is a perfect substitute. Not only does he have the guitar sound matched up perfectly, but he plays all the songs with the finesse of someone who's been lovingly playing them for years.

I was really surprised by Brant's drumset. All he had was a seven piece! Snare, tom, bass, high hat and three cymbals.

Oliveri was surprisingly sedate. I suppose when you've just gone toe-to-toe with a SWAT team you probably have a lot on your mind and you're going to do everything possible not to make things worse.

Garcia was an enigma. He didn't say "Hello" when they came out. He didn't talk with the crowd between songs. A few times he turned his back to the audience and focused his attention on Brant. It reminded me of Morrison in his early years. Before he got his Mojo going, he had a bit of stage shyness. That could be the same thing here, especially when you're playing in NYC. There were a few smiles towards the end along with a "thank you" once the band wrapped up the encore.

They played for an hour and 25 minutes, including the short break before the encore. They didn't play anything off of Wretch, their under produced debut. Instead they stuck with the material from their better albums: Blues for the Red Sun, Welcome to Sky Valley, ...And the Circus Leaves Town. They were great! No forgotten lyrics or messed up riffs. It could've been 1995 for their sound wasn't messed with at all. It wasn't like listening to the CD's. There was no mistaking that this was live, with all of the little pangs of feedback and distortion that goes with the territory.

To the best of my knowledge, these are the songs they played (not in order):

Thumb
One Inch Man
Asteroid
Freedom Run
Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop
100°
Molten Universe
Hurricane
Gardenia
Odyssey
El Rodeo
Allen's Wrench
Whitewater
Spaceship Landing
Green Machine

There's talk of the new lineup going into the studio next year to record a new album. I can't wait!

\_/
DED

After a four year absence, I returned to Waterbury on Saturday, September 10th for their annual brewfest. Unfortunately, I've lost my notes and will have to recall everything from memory.

Good luck with that.

Yeah. Well, here goes...

Olde Burnside, whom I love for their Ten Penny Ale, had something new for me: Penny Weiz. It's a Belgian Witbier consisting of 50% wheat and 50% barley. It's a light-bodied beer that's good for spring and summer refreshment which, considering the low 80 degree temps that day, was a good thing.

From Berkshire Brewing, I had the Drayman's Porter. I remember liking it but you'd be hard pressed to make a porter I don't like (though it has been done).

Victory Brewing was there. I don't get much of an opportunity to consume their brews so I sampled their Moonglow Weizenbock. I remember it being strong and liking it a lot.

Arko, a state distributor, was there to present some fine Eastern European beer. I've had Baltika's porter in the past and Witnica's (and should've reviewed both of them here, my bad!), so I decided to try something new. Unfortunately, I don't see anything on the online brochure that rings a bell. I just remember having something there.

I decided to have the Paulaner Oktoberfest, figuring that I should see how the Germans make the seasonal namesake. It wasn't to my liking.

Otter Creek's Black IPA is still relatively new so I grabbed a sample of that.

Boston Beer Company (bka Sam Adams) held a contest to determine their next beer offering. Drinkers got to vote for their favorite. The choices were Oaked Ale and Maple Pecan Porter. While I liked both, my choice was the porter (no surprise there). There was just enough maple and a hint of the pecan. Hopefully, this will replace the lousy Honey Porter.

Smuttynose had its Pumpkin Ale, which tasted like pumpkin with a hint of autumnal spice (coriander?).

I've seen Sierra Nevada's Tumbler Brown in the beer store but haven't picked it up yet. I had it here and enjoyed it.

New Jersey's River Horse is as expensive as the brews shipped in from the West Coast so I don't buy it. Although not a Belgian fan, I had their Belgian Style Tripel. It was pretty good but not worth $14 a six pack.

Sebago is another brewer I don't see in the beer stores I frequent so I had to take the opportunity to have a sample. I had the Lake Trout Stout. Good beer.

Local homebrew supply store, Maltose Express, was there to promote their business and show off their skills. I had their Imperial IPA which was quite good.

Hartford's brewpub, City Steam, was there with a wide selection. I had their Good Night Irene Russian Imperial Stout. Hurricane connection duly noted. Yummy beer!

Tullycross Tavern was there to show that there's life east of Hartford. I had their Oktoberfest and it was good. If you live near them, check them out.

Wearing my Harpoon Leviathan t-shirt got me a large sample of their latest in the series: Imperial Rye. Another good one. I'm going to have to look for it in stores, though it would be nice if the baltic porter would come back for another round.

That's all that I can remember. If it weren't for the copy of the brochure online, I'd remember even less. Should I find my notes, I'll come back here and amend this.

\_/
DED

It's time to move on.

I'm not saying that we can't hold memorial services to remember those who died that day. I'm saying that, as a country, we need to stop living in the shadow of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and come out into the light.

Despite Republican warnings that he'd do otherwise, Obama has continued W's policies. We're still in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Patriot Act is still the law of the land and Guantanamo Bay is still open. After ten years, you'd think that someone would be able to build a case against its detainees or dismiss them.

We're still spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year on a war footing without paying for it (remember war bonds, anyone?). Total military spending was $316 billion in 2001. In 2011, it has more than doubled to $708 billion. This exercise in nation building has propped up two fractious, and morally suspect, republics while eroding the foundation of our own. While combat operations have wound down in Iraq, we still have 46,000 troops there (though hopefully they'll be coming home by year's end). Afghanistan? 99,000 troops with a promised drawdown to begin in the summer of 2012; though with instability endemic in that country, I can see that being extended.

It is not that I don't appreciate removing the evil dictators of the world. It's wonderful. However, the reality is that dictator toppling costs ridiculous amounts of money and no one in Washington is willing to pay for it in a responsible manner. Borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from China is NOT a responsible manner.

At least mercenaries get paid.

So now there's no money when we need it here at home to fund infrastructure repairs or offer tax credits for R&D or come up with other potential job hiring incentives because the Republicans, who (except for a handful) forgot fiscal responsibility when W was in the White House, say we can't spend money on anything except the military. Defense spending accounts for 25 cents of every dollar. If there's a budget to be balanced, why can't one look there for a hundred billion or so rather that whining about thousands spent elsewhere?

Meanwhile we bailed out the banks. Yeah, great idea that one.

When Osama bin Laden was killed earlier this year, I'd hoped that we would declare victory and bring the troops home. Nope. There was barely any praise given to Obama for giving the order to kill the bastard. You bet your ass that if it happened on W's watch that the Republicans would've been jumping up and down (Sadly, I didn't see any Democrats high-fiving). And you'd think that someone would be happy Gaddafi was toppled in Libya without putting American boots on the ground or having much of a bill.

So with Osama dead and al Qaeda falling apart, why can't we stand down? Wasn't that the whole point in the first place?! Let's rely on special forces to root out hidden pockets of terrorists. Take a page from Reagan and fund some freedom fighters (it's far cheaper). For fiscal sanity's sake, since no one had the stomach for a war tax, let's save a hundred billion and bring the troops home.

I'd write about the lives lost but no one cares about that. Life is cheap. You can buy your way out of a war. Money matters more to those who call the shots. Dead soldiers are patriots. Dead civilians are swept under the rug. Higher taxes to pay for war? Now that's something to get their blood boiling!

Unfortunately, a new presidential election campaign has begun and the rhetoric has been flying. Will any of them have the courage to end this snipe hunt? I doubt it.

In another ten years, my son will be old enough to serve in the military. If the past ten are any indication, the only job available to him (or anyone else) will be that of solider. While I typically would consider that a noble choice, I can't help but feel that it'll be to go to war to fulfill the campaign pledge of some twit.

War Stats

\_/
DED

You've all heard about the death of Borders. There have been some who were quick to accredit its demise to upheaval in the publishing industry, but it's actually amazing the company lasted as long as it did. Rather than there being one cause of death, Borders suffered from several mistakes over the last two decades.

1. Hijacked by Kmart. Kmart was struggling to properly manage Waldenbooks. After eight years of mediocrity, they bought Borders in 1992 hoping that the executives there could help them out. Instead, they jumped ship. The Kmart execs never figured out how to sell books so they spun off the two companies in 1995 as Borders - Walden Group (the latter half of the name was dropped before the year was out).
   
   
2. Bits Beat Bricks. Internet business whiz, Jeff Bezos, realized that the Internet allowed him to sell books (and later many more products) all over the world without physically being there. With the costs of running a website far less than that of running thousands of stores, Amazon is able to offer books at a discount and ship them to your house (for free if you buy enough of them). Browsing a bookstore in your pajamas? Great!
   
   
3. Selection, selection, selection. Amazon deserves a second dagger in Borders' heart here: the selection is unbeatable. In a brick and mortar, you've only got so much space to work with. You've got to keep those cash registers ringing so that means going only with the titles that sell. Amazon can stock them all because the books just occupy a spot on the rack in the warehouse. So if a customer is looking for something specific and not well known, the odds of them finding it on Amazon are great. In a Borders store? Not so much. That means missing out on the Long Tail, not to mention future purchases from now disgruntled customers.
   
   
4. Asleep, with the enemy at the wheel. Borders couldn't figure out how to make their website profitable. In 2000, they had $27 million in revenue from the website but the cost of operations led to an $18 million loss. So, like Toys-R-Us, they partnered with Amazon, the very company was eating their lunch. Amazon was quickly becoming a paradigm of order fulfillment and Borders threw in the towel. But since people knew Amazon was running things, they wondered why they should bother going through Borders.
   
   
5. Coffee is just coffee. In 2004, Borders partnered with Starbucks' subsidiary, Seattle's Best Coffee, to operate the coffee shops in its bigger stores. Borders hopes that the lure of good coffee will get more people into its stores. The deal works for Seattle's Best, but not so much for Borders. Sure, people will sit down and read a book, but it's not making them buy more books. And once free Wi-Fi becomes available, people begin accessing the Web rather than browsing the bookshelves.
   
   
6. Another failure to innovate or adapt. Amazon released its first e-book reader, the Kindle, in 2007. You know its story well: less expensive books, no more crowded bookshelves, near instantaneous deliveries. Bibliophiles gobbled them up. Many other companies followed suit with either dedicated devices or provided apps in their web-enabled phones and PDA's so that readers could download electronic versions of their favorite books. The growth of the e-book market has been nothing short of meteoric. But Borders totally misses the boat. Not only do they not offer e-books, but they failed to partner with any of the e-reader manufacturers. It isn't until July of last year that they open an e-Book store and offer an e-reader app of their own. The Kobo is also plugged as a preferred e-reader but by then Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Sony have staked their claims on the market.

By now it's too late. Borders hasn't made a profit since 2006. Throw in the Great Recession of 2007-09 and the death spiral is complete.

Don't get me wrong. I was disappointed in seeing Borders go under. For new books, it was either Amazon or Borders. I'll have to drive the proverbial extra mile to Barnes & Noble or stay home and browse Amazon. The two used book stores in town are always worth a look, but their selection is limited. The failure of Borders to survive is the result of a succession of bad business moves and the inability to adapt to the changing times. But you can't pity them, that's capitalism: innovate, adapt or die. Well, unless you can con your government into a bailout, but that's a rant I'm tired of making.

\_/
DED

Here's the list of books that I've reviewed over at the New Podler Review of Books for the first half of this year.

The A-Men by John Trevillian. A post-corporate punk rock Apocalypse.

The Wrinkly by Paul Collis. A mid-life crisis sends Mike Lewis into a tailspin. His solution: pretend to be 65 so that he can move to a retirement community and play golf. Would make a great sitcom.

The Job by Craig Davis. A re-telling of the Biblical saga of Job, but with less anguish and more humor.

The Digital Sea by Thomas Carpenter. Cyberpunk thriller. Too complex to summarize in one line. Read the review.

Trang by Mary Sission. 1960's style soft sci-fi with aliens, humor and lots of swearing.

Shaman, Healer, Heretic by M. Terry Green. Urban fantasy involving techno-shamans. Good YA fare without the typical YA nausea.

Looking at this group, I can honestly say that there is nothing that these books have in common. Not only is the subject material completely different, but the writing styles and quality are too.

\_/
DED

Hooray!! "Emily's Star" has been accepted and published by Spinetinglers! You can read the story here.

A tiny star mysteriously appears in a little girl's bedroom. Is it a freakish twist of physics or something more sinister?

I've been trying to get this story published for a long time. It feels good to finally find a home for it. I'd just about given up. Perseverance pays off.

\_/
DED