Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Los Lobos: One Time One Night, video and lyrics

This is one of my favorite songs by Los Lobos, an American treasure-trove of roots music. The song is all the more poignant because it's Los Lobos and is simultaneously infectious and heartbreaking. Since I became a fan in the mid-eighties, I've always loved David Hidalgo's tenor voice, and Cesar Rosas' too. I've probably seen Los Lobos perform four times over the years, usually at the Bumbershoot arts festival in Seattle, although I think I saw them once in Berkeley or Oakland. . .who knows? They toured a lot with both Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead in the late 80's and early 90's. It might have been at one of their shows...




One time one night lyrics

A wise man was telling stories to me
About the places he had been to
And the things that he had seen
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America
A lady dressed in white with the man she loves
Standing along the side of their pick up truck
A shot rang out in the night
Just when everything seemed right
Another headline written down in America
The guy that lived next door in three oh five
took the kids to the park and disappeared 'bout half past nine
Who will ever know how much she loved them so
That dark night alone in America
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song 'bout the home of the brave and this land here of the free,
One time one night in America
Four small boys playing ball in the parking lot
A preacher, a teacher, and the other became a cop
A car skidded into the rain
Making the last little one a saint
One more light goes out in America
A young girl tosses a coin in the wishing well
She hopes for a heaven while for her there's just this hell
She gave away her life to become somebody's wife
Another wish unanswered in America
People having so much faith
Die too soon while all the rest come late
We write a song that no one sings
On a cold black stone where a lasting peace will finally bring
The sunlight plays upon my window pane
I wake up to a world that's still the same
My father said to be strong
That a good man could never do wrong
In a dream I had last night in America
A wise man was telling stories to me
about the places he had been to and the things that he had seen
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song 'bout the home of the brave and this land here of the free,
One time one night in America
One time one night in America
One time one night in America
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Monday, September 17, 2007

Alan Greenspan: "The Iraq War is largely about oil"


Alan Greenspan with his wife, the very talented journalist
and commentator Andrea Mitchell

This book is going to be great! The Republican Alan Greenspan, in his memoir, praises Bill Clinton for his financial restraint and for elminating deficit spending. He roasts President Bush for his profligate spending.

In my favorite part of the book so far, Greenspan writes:

“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."

The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan goes on sale tomorrow.
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Phil Kendall at both ends of his football career

Why am I so fascinated with these pictures of Phil Kendall? Mainly because at the time of his death, we had not begun taking pictures. We haven't seen a picture of him in nearly 33 years (except for a one inch square high school annual shot). I especially love this one, taken in Boston. This web site is still elliptical and evolving, but you can find out more about Phil and his life here.


click to enlarge
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Double trouble: two guilty pleasures in one--> a Chcago song paired with a YouTube user video

OK, I'll admit, Chicago is a guilty pleasure (like quite a few other mainstream people who could actually play and sing). The first few albums were pretty good. Someone has set "Does anyone really know what time it is" to a truly hilarious user video. So, hey, you get to hear the song, and witness some top-notch thespians at work.


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Remember modems? Here's Penril marketing their 1200 baud modem


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Sunday, September 16, 2007

Photograph of Phil Kendall


click to enlarge

I snagged this photo from the In Memory of Phil Kendall blog site. I corrected the brightness, despeckled it, turned the color down and (attempted) to fix the red-eye. I can't be sure, but I bet this photo is from the summer of 1974. He was a great smiler, and friend.
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Caution---> Lindsay Lohan behind the wheel


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Gingrich: 80/20 The Dems will win



According to an interview Newt Gingrich had with the National Journal, the Republican's goose is cooked. Read the full article in the National Journal here.

Q: You said fairly recently that the Democrats had a very high likelihood of winning the presidency next year.

Gingrich: I think that the country, after the last couple of years, has a bias in favor of change -- I think probably starting with [Hurricane] Katrina and coming through Baghdad and the whole sense of too much spending. And you sense a lack of enthusiasm in the conservative base, and you sense a stunning level of intensity in the anti-war Left. And so you just look at the dynamics and you have to say the odds are probably 80-20 [in the Democrats' favor].
Q: 80-20?

Gingrich: Yeah. That's my guess. Now, it could change. If you had a [Republican] candidate who could break out and who could say, "Obviously, we need to change pretty dramatically, and the party of trial lawyers, public employee unions, [and] left-wing ideologues probably can't change,"


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Blogger Play - A new toy from Blogger


Blogger has just released a new toy--Blogger Play. "Shortly after Blogger launched photo uploading two years ago, one of our engineers whipped up a web page that would show us the pictures that were being uploaded in real time. The result was fun, often beautiful, but above all, compelling. We couldn’t stop watching." It's pretty cool. Go here to view the uploaded pictures of all of us on Blogger. It makes for an interesting screensaver...


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Saturday, September 15, 2007

New photographs of Jeri Kehn Thompson on the campaign trail (and a couple of her husband Fred too)

Since actor and former Senator Fred Thompson declared his candidacy for President on a television talk show, his wife Jeri Kehn has been making selected appearances on the campaign trail. Here are a handful of new photographs from some September rallies and fundraisers. If you want to see more photos of Mrs. Thompson, here is a roundup of all the photos on All This Is That.







And so it begins: Hillary and Giuliani commence trashing each other



Senator Clinton and the former Mayor of 9/11, Rudolph Giuliani have begun trashing each other in advertisements. . .as if the other dwarfs were no longer even in the race.

Rudy kicked off the war of words with a snarling attack on top Democratic contender, accusing her "spewing venom" at America's commander in Iraq. The former may of 9/11 placed a full page-ad in the New York Times chastising Clinton over her stance of the war. Shortly thereafter, he released an internet advertisement saying Clinton had turned her back on US troops, after first voting to authorize the war in Iraq, and now asking for an end to the occupation of Iraq.



"Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself for that," Giuliani said.

Rudy was responding to an ad by MoveOn.org, which ran in the Times earlier this week with a headline of "General Petraeus, or General Betray US?"

Clinton's campaign immediately shot back:

"It's hardly surprising that Mayor Giuliani is running the first negative ad of the '08 campaign, given his inability to justify his unqualified support for president Bush's failed Iraq strategy."

Giuliani supporters rally in Omaha, Nebraska


Giuliani's desperate move into mud-slinging comes just as Fred Thompson is chiseling away at the ex-mayor's lead in the race. Giuliani's hopes to seize the momentum again."He'd love nothing more than for her or members of her campaign to respond in an agitated way to what is clearly at best a very dubious linkage between what Moveon does and what Hillary Clinton says," said David Birdsell, professor at Baruch College.
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Friday, September 14, 2007

Hitler Youth: a Halloween Costume?

Jason Larsen sent this picture, found somewhere on the interweb. I don't know if the youth in the picture was in training as a young Nazi, or if this was a Halloween costume. It reminded me a little of the time in South Park where Eric Cartman dressed up as Hitler for Halloween. The principal made him take it off and gave him a ghost costume instead. Of course, the ghost costume looked exactly like a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe...


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Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow a/k/a The Posies perform "I Guess You're Right" live

This tune is from their most recent album, "Every Kind of Light." There arent't a lot of high quality videos of these guys out there...especially of their recent work. . .

Senator Chuck Hagel throws in the towel

[I never actually got around to posting this when it happened...earlier this week]

Senator Chuck Hagel (republican, Nebraska) plans to will announce on Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate. He will also announce that he will not run for president next year, after flirting with the idea for many months. Sources close to him leaked the information to the press on Friday.

Normally we would be jubilant that another Republican has thrown in the towel. However, Hagel has earned strong national cred as the most vocal, and most pissed-off GOP critic of the President's folly in Iraq.

His outspokenness on Iraq and other key issues fueled national interest in Hagel as he went back and forth on a possible presidential bid. Until yesterday, everyone was sure he would run.

The upside: his stepping down leaves another GOP Senate seat without an incumbent just as the Republican Party desperately struggles to stem potential losses. They go into this race with more seats up for election that the Dems. The upside for Hagel: he's the first Republican in a while to leave office without a gay sex scandal dogging him.
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Thursday, September 13, 2007

Poppa John Creach plays "Over The Rainbow."

Poppa John Creach plays "Over The Rainbow." I always loved his fiddle rendition of the tune. Poppa John played for both the Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna in the 70's. This is an audio YouTube, with a slideshow. . .the only way we can put songs up here without a lot of hassle.



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