the pod bay door

:: When I was in high school some 32 years ago, I played lead guitar in a rock band called Ram. (The Paul McCartney album of the same name appeared some months afterwards, btw.) We were an eleven-piece band: bass, drums, 2 lead singers, 2 guitarists, Hammond organ, and saxophone, trombone and two trumpets. The first song we learned to play was “Vehicle“, by the Chicago-based group, The Ides of March. Now Rhino Handmade has issued “The Ides Of March – Friendly Strangers: The Warner Bros. Recordings“, a limited edition release of 2,500 numbered copies.

From the above web site are these words: The Ides spent most of 1970 on the road, opening for Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, and Iron Butterfly (one entertainment headline read “Ides Of March Steal The Show” after an off night for Zeppelin). I can report that I saw The Ides of March play on that tour, sans Joplin, but with The Youngbloods, led by Jesse Colin Young, on August 29, 1970, in Winnipeg, at what was called the Man-Pop Festival.

The festival began in the Winnipeg Stadium earlier that day, but rain forced 18,000 of us into the Winnipeg Arena – a decision made behind the scenes so as to allow the concert to continue. Imagine the sound technicians having to move the equipment in the rain from the stadium into the arena on a few minutes notice! I still am in awe of how they did it. I was 18 at the time. I can’t remember how it was that we didn’t trample each other trying to get into the arena. I remember ending up sitting in a chair on the arena floor, watching (in order): The Youngbloods, The Ides of March, Iron Butterfly, and Led Zeppelin. Tickets were $5.50, and if we turned in a receipt or something, we got a dollar back.

I don’t remember much about the show. I recall that after moving into the arena, The Youngbloods almost put the audience to sleep. Remember: “C’mon people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another, right now.. ” A great tune, but gentle country rock wasn’t what we needed right then and there. The Ides followed, and rocked out the arena. I remember Led Zeppelin coming on around 2:00 am, opening with “Immigrant Song” (which no one knew, as their third album had yet to appear), and moving right into “Heartbreaker“, which we all knew at that time – a big FM hit from LZ II.

When the show was over, around 4:00 am, we left the arena, not sure how we’d get home, only to find dozens of Winnipeg Transit buses waiting to take us home.

:: What follows are my observations from attending and volunteering at the 24th Edmonton Folk Music Festival this past weekend. I apologize for continuing confusion regarding previous posts on PBD.
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:: From Blogcritics comes word about a review by Mark Bernstein of Rebecca Blood’s book, The Weblog Handbook. Read “A Romantic View of Weblogs” for an different view of why people blog. I read Blood’s book last year, and found it a valuable resource with which to begin a blogging experience.

:: The earlier entries describing my weekend at the EFMF, and others yet to be posted, have been withdrawn from PBD. My apologies for any inconvenience or misunderstanding caused by the entries. I’ll leave it at this: the 24th festival was and will remain one of the best EFMF’s I’ve attended and at which I’ve volunteered. The reasons are too numerous to mention. Please continue to support the festival – it’s worth the cost of admission many times over. Thanks.

If you wish to see photos, check the Image Gallery at the EFMF web site.

:: Like I needed research to confirm this: Researcher confirms existence of ‘earworms’ – 98% of people have had songs stuck in their head. (From: Shifted Librarian.)

:: Fox News is suing one of my favorite writers, comedians and commentators, Al Franken, for using the phrase “fair and balanced” as part of the subtitle of his new book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look At The Right. The New York Times reported on the story, and it’s been discussed on CNN. Even better, it made the Op-Ed page of the NYTimes (ID/pw: podbay). My favorite line from the editorial: “For years now, liberals have wrung their hands over the fact that the right wing had a monopoly on acerbic, unfair and entertaining political commentators. Mr. Franken is clearly attempting to fill the gap, and for some reason the Fox people appear to be doing everything they can to help pave his way.”

With this lawsuit, Fox News, never known for being fair and balanced, has helped push the book (not being released until September 22, to #1 on the Amazon Best Sellers List (at least today, August 13th).

I saw Franken perform in NYC last November. He is brilliant, funny, and accurate in his observations. Go, Al, go!