Ringo's New CD Cover

EMI has revealed the artwork to Ringo's new best of CD.
Looks very nice. I really like the photo they have chosen!

RUSH - FORD AMPHITHEATRE - TAMPA, FLORIDA JUNE 16, 2007

Set List: Limelight; Digital Man;Entre Nous; Mission; Freewill; The Main Monkey Business; The Larger Bowl; Secret Touch; Circumstances; Between The Wheels; Dreamline; Far Cry;Workin' Them Angels;Armor And Sword; Spindrift; The Way The Wind Blows; Subdivisions;Natural Science; Witch Hunt;MalNar;Drum Solo; Hope; Summertime Blues; The Spirit Of Radio; Tom Sawyer; One Little Victory; A Passage To Bangkok; YYZ
What a fast moving weekend! Brandon flew into town for the RUSH concert on Saturday night and me and Michael went and picked him up and we all had dinner at Olive Garden. On Saturday we spent the afternoon at the mall before heading to Tampa for the show.
We arrived and bought some swag and headed for the seats. Really good seats. 7nth row seats on Alex's side of the stage. It was HOT and crowded that close so that was a drawback - but we were close. Decent trade off I suppose.
From the very start of the show (a rather punctual 7:45, with the sun still shining), the band assumed those classic positions: bassist-keyboardist-vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and the most worshipped drummer of all time, Neil Peart. Each musician is distinctive, bombastic, an aggressive master of his art. This was only the band's third show on a tour backing new album "Snakes & Arrows," but their playing is already flawless. Opening with "Limelight," the band sounded superior throughout. Lifeson's guitar has plenty of flash but a goodly portion of soul as well. His riffs are tough, macho, and strong. On the raucous new instrumental jam "The Main Monkey Business," he pounded out wicked licks as footage of lumbering men in gorilla suits flashed behind him. Weird? Yes. Awesome? Heck yes. Lee's voice has mellowed over the years to become a versatile and expressive instrument. He sings some seriously heavy stuff, but he's not without humor. He thumped his bass not in front of a stack of amps but a row of rotisserie chicken ovens. (In previous tours, Lee has bopped in front of washing machines.) Peart's drumming is busy but never distractingly so. The kit is mind-boggling. During "Freewill," a video screen showed an aerial shot of Peart's domain, and his drum setup had more parts than the space shuttle. And then there was that long, sexy drum solo, which touched on tribal beats, bebop jazz and straight-ahead heavy metal. At one point, he stood up, and the entire drum kit rotated, giving him fresh skins to pound on. That said - his solo was genuinely entertaining, employing tuned and electronic percussion as well as his main kit, and ending with him swinging over a big band recording, a tip of the hat to one of his heroes, jazz drummer Buddy Rich. With 30-plus years of music to draw from, it was a brave move on the band's part to feature so many cuts from its most recent album, this year's "Snakes and Arrows." It's a strong album, arguably Rush's strongest in some time, and numbers such as "Far Cry" and "Workin' Them Angels" should be well on their way to becoming fan favorites. But once the second half of the show opened with no fewer than five new tunes, there was a palpable sense of relief - more like an explosion of joy - when Rush launched into '80s favorite "Subdivisions."But patience was rewarded. A smashing "Summertime Blues," a la Blue Cheer, was followed by "Spirit of Radio" and "Tom Sawyer," the latter song introduced by a clip of the "South Park" kids mangling the lyrics.
Three-plus hours is a lotta of Rush for a casual fan, especially since the boys loaded their 27-song setlist with deep album cuts and 9 new songs.
Rush is a thing of beauty, or headaches. Me? I dig three dudes who make the noise of 30.

Wilbury's #1

As Rihanna starts her fifth week at the top of the singles chart with "Umbrella" featuring Jay-Z (Def Jam), there's a surprise name at No. 1 on the album bestsellers list. The Traveling Wilburys' "Collection" (Rhino/Warner Bros.), a compilation of the erstwhile supergroup's two original studio albums and other material, enters at No. 1.

WOW!
I would never had thought that in a million years!

In other news Ringo Starr has signed with EMI!! The deal which covers digital releases of his older catalogue - it also brings him back to the EMI stable for future recordings. His next solo album, "Liverpool 8," is due in January; a CD/DVD best-of, "Photograph," arrives Aug. 28 and features music recorded between 1970 and 2005.

good times indeed! All we're missing this year is a John release :-)

Five Star Iris

Five Star Iris - the little ole band out of Atlanta that we know and tell everybody about all of the time - has just been added to Clear Channels online music and radio page! They are under the Discover new artists section. Go HERE to play the tune and help get this great band on Clear Channel radio stations!
There CD is also available at Best Buy and online at itunes as well.
Give it a listen.
Time very well spent!

Etc..

Man it has rained a lot the last few days! We needed it though!

Went over to Shannon’s last night for dinner. The rain had flooded her garage! Deb made chicken and we all ate and I played with Hailey most of the evening.

Earlier in the day Deb went to a Walmart grand opening where she got a lot of freebies. That’s always nice.

Raymond called and he was just approved for a house, so he will be moving in there the first week of July.

So I guess that means EVERYONE will have moved in the last few months – Me and all my kids and Michael and all his!

Go figure!

I did get good news today. My light bill for the month is $185!! My last one at the old townhouse was almost $400!! Man that’s nice.

The RUSH tour started last night in Atlanta. Brandon flies in tomorrow and we hit the show Saturday night! Should be AWESOME!

I’m working on a Photobucket album of our trip to Chicago to visit Kim and Shawn, so I’ll post a link to that as soon as it is ready.

Good times….

iConcertCal

iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city. It is available for both Windows and Mac OS X and supports worldwide searches.

looks pretty kewl! get it here!

Ozzfest

What a crock!
Ozzfest was announced a few months ago for this year - and tickets are to be FREE. You went to a web site and received a code to use at a later date.
Well - then it was announced that with the purchase of Ozzy's new album - not the standard edition - but a limited edition more expensive version - you got a code as well for the 'free' tickets - but you could use it a few days before the real 'free' ones.
Then it's announced that there are the $300 VIP packages you can buy - and the $966 meet Ozzy VIP tickets. ($300 plus $666)!
So the question becomes - how many tickets are actually available for FREE anyway??? I did a search on Monday [one day before time to redeem you code for a free ticket] on ebay and stubhub - and lo and behold - TONS of 'free' tickets for sale. Huuummmm....
SO - yesterday at the designated time I logged in. Selected the show I wanted to get tickets for - selected the maximum allowed - 2 tix - and waited, and waited, and waited. Got up - went to watch TV for a bit - checked again - waiting. After 3 1/2 hours of waiting in que - i clicked close. What a crock.
6 hours after 'distribution' I checked for shits and giggles and it logged me in. I got 2 LAWN tix - for free.
From what I read - not long after that - the servers crashed! Scanning the Ozzfest message board this morning I read stories almost word for word like my experience - so it was nationwide. Of course those with tickets are happy and oh thank you Ozzy ans Sharon for this!! but those without - which seemed like the majority - were pissed!
Now - to be honest - we are not going. Never were. I got them for Raymond [our son] who IS going. But I think the whole ticket delivery system and 'free' and the whole experience was a crock.
Today even more are on ebay and stubhub and every other ticket broker place thinkable. Worse yet - most of the people selling them for the West Palm Beach, Florida show are in like California, Michigan , etc... who would have NEVER gotten these tix in the first place if it wasn't 'free'. Way to go Ozzy - now everyone BUT your fans will be at the show - because they can't afford to pay the $100's be asked for your 'free' tickets.
Nice idea - badly done!

New Things

Well new release Tuesday is once again upon us - and the main item of interest today is of course the new collection re-issuing the Traveling Wilbury's CD's. That one is a must have.
I also read that EMI re-released John Lennon's 'Legend' collections today. This is the CD and the DVD packaged together in the same housing. Nothing different than the original releases - just a limited edition reprint.
In this day and age of downloading and torrents, It's very seldom now that I actually go out and buy the physical CD of anything. I have my 'collections' that I keep up with. Kiss, Beatles. But for the most part I've abandoned buying actual CD's.
Is this a good thing? Well the space i'm saving is a major plus! And actually I listen to more music now than at any time EVER in my life thanks to mp3's and the iPod. (thanks Brandon) So I think it is a good thing actually.
Granted, there is nothing like holding a new album in your hand with the large pictures and lyrics you can actually SEE and read! but I find i'm less and less thinking about the packaging and just focusing more and more on just the music.

Joke time

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel plans. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his
wife flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email. Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My loving wife
Subject: I've arrived
Date: April 6, 2006
I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was. P.S. sure is freaking hot down here!!!!!

Good Times

Had a good FULL weekend. Friday night met up with Michael, Brenda, Michelle, Craig and Melissa for dinner at the Orlando Ale house. Good food. Just love their buffalo Chicken sandwich. Brenda is off to New Mexico on Tuesday to visit with her family. Time for Michael to PARTY!!! (Just kiddin’)

On Saturday we helped to move Shannon into her new house. Nice big 3 bedroom house on the outskirts of Apopka. After a snag at the Uhaul place (surprise) all seemed to go really smoothly and we had her moved in by 1 in the afternoon. Hailey and I spent quite a bit of time on the floor playing together before we left. Good times!

On Sunday we met Raymond, Amanda and William at the West Oaks Mall and we all went to see Shrek The Third. William was good for about an hour then got bored and then Deb was up following him around the theatre. Not sure enjoyed themselves more – Deb or William!

So we were able to see all the family this weekend – and all was enjoyable.

Good times…

KISSOLOGY Volume 2

This poster was spotted in a Chicago airport yetserday.
Looks like details about KISSOLOGY VOlume 2 are about to drop.
Can't wait!

KENNY CHESNEY - FORD AMPHITHEATRE - TAMPA, FLORIDA JUNE 2, 2007

Set List: Beer In Mexico; Keg In The Closet; Summertime; Live Those Songs; Big Star; No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem; The Woman With You; Living In Fast Forward; Young; The Good Stuff; I Go Back; Anything But Mine; Don't Happen Twice; My Old Blue Chair; Introduction Of The Band; Back Where I Come From; You Saved Me; When The Sun Goes Down; Lay You Down; How Forever Feels; She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy; There Goes My Life

Saturday night Kenny Chesney - who recently was voted Entertainer of the Year for the third time - brought his 'Flip Flop Tour' to Tampa.
Opening acts Pat Green and Sugarland warmed up the crowd as a prevailing winds left over from tropical storm Barry whipped through the amphitheatre. Pat Green seemed a little out of his element for his 30 minute set, which could have been shorterl but Sugarland - whose star is on the rise, put on a good hour show which had the place jumping.
I have attended quite a few shows here now - and this was by far the fullest I have ever seen it. Every seat was full and the lawn area was PACKED! Even the periodic rain did not dampen their spirits and you didn't see many people making for the exits early.
This was one high energy show. If you like Kenny's music is a personal opinion - but make no mistake - this was NOT a typical aw-shucks country concert. Quite the contrary.
This show rocked harder than most rock concerts. Even though he's carved out a name for ballad type songs - his set was high octane 95% up tempo songs from start to finish, with more lighting effects, stage screens and power riffs than a KISS concert. All that was missing was the fire effects and dripping blood.
The 10-1 female ratio could have cared less. Kenny set them all on fire and there were was a lot of boobs a poppin', scantily clad dressed women and female dancers grinding their partners! We were even treated to a show of two girls grabbing each others ass for pictures.
And oh by the way Kenny Chesney sang some songs.
The sound left a bit to be desired as the mix - while cranked up in volume - wasn't the greatest, and Kenny's microphone cut out for most of "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" but the crowd filled in for him as they knew all the lyrics.
Tampa Bay Bucanneers coach John Gruden was brought out on stage at one point, and Kenny sang to Kelly Preston during "You Saved Me" so while the clouds were rolling over - the stars were still shining in the venue. Kenny's shining the brightest of all.
4 out of 5 stars

Barry and Kenny

Tropical storm Barry moved through Florida last night into today dumping some well needed rain on us. No complaints at all on the rain.
Our only fear about the storm is tonight we head to Tampa to see Kenny Chesney so we were worried about a rain out - but all looks pretty clear and everything says RAIN OR SHINE so we'll head out in a few hours to go see the show. We have covered seats at the amphitheatre so we just don't want to get soaked getting to our seats!
We spent the morning grocery shopping and are now gonna get ready for the show.
I'll post a full review of the show tomorrow.

States

We were talking while in Chicago about how me and Debbie have added a few states to where we have been. Shawn has been to 34! Kim right behind him with 33! I have absolutely no idea I have been in - so time for a list.
Let's see - first the three states I have lived in:
1. New Mexico
2. Texas
3. Florida
States I have spent some actual time in visiting:
4. Georgia
5. California
6. Illinois
7. Maryland (including Washington, D.C.)
8. North Carolina
9. Colorado
10. Ohio
States I have driven through:
11. Louisiana
12. Alabama
13. Mississippi
14. South Carolina
States I have stopped in during flights:
15. Tennessee
16. Minnesota
17. Utah
State that I visited as a child with no recollection of:
18. Oklahoma - confirmed by my brother as I was a baby!

That's all that come to mind. So 18. No where near Shawn's 34! But actually more than I thought.

Chicago Diary - Pt 7

Last night we went to an old pizza place called 'Bill's'. Damn fine Chicago style pizza. We couldn't even eat the entire thing. Debbie not wanting the pizza ordered some cod fish which she said was really awesome!
After dinner we made our way back home to Shawn ans Kim's where we looked at photo albums and talked for a while before packing and heading to bed.
Woke up this morning and made good timne to the airport. O'hare is just one busy ass airport! Just incredible.
We has skipped breakfast so we grabbed a sandwich and ate before we got onto the plane.
The flights weren't too bad. A little bit of turbulence on the fight from Chicago to Memphis. The plane leaving Chicago was running behind so we were late getting into Memphis. We hurridly made our way to the gate and our next plane was boarding! Just made it.
Once we got back to Orlando our suitcase was not on our plane! Turns out it wasn't lost - just on the next plane in from Memphis so we had to wait a bit for it. Thank god!
Well as they say - no rest for the wicked - it's right back to work tomorrow.
Seeing Shawn and kim was great. Chicago is a great place. Can't wait to go back!

Chicago Diary - Pt 6

Wednesday 5/30
5:20 p.m.

Yesterday we did Chicago!!!
We got up and headed down to the train station where we took the 66 minutes train ride down to Union Station in Chicago. Great way to get into the city and see some of the landscapes along the way.
Once we got to Union Station – which itself is a awesome place – we stopped to take some pictures of the area then moved out into the city. Sprawling buildings all dwarfed by the Sears Tower. It truly felt like a big city. It was right at lunch time so there were a lot people milling about and the streets were full as we made our way down Adams Street.
We knew with the limited time so we were not going to be able to go up the Sears tower but got some good shots from up under the building looking up.
We popped into a Potbellies sub shop - which was quite busy as it was still at the tail end of lunchtime - and we each got a roast beef sub to go. The plan was to make our way to the Buckingham Fountain and eat there. It was quite a trek but we made it and stopped to rest and have our lunch. It was really nice and quiet. That fountain is the one that you see at the opening credits of Married With Children tv show. It is on the banks of Lake Michigan so it was nice and cool place to eat with the breeze coming up off of the lake.
After we ate, the Field Museum was in site and it was just a bit more of a walk to make it there. It sits right in front of Soldier Field where the Chicago Bears play there games. We made our way up to a vantage point to where I could get a picture of the stadium and then went into the museum.
The main attraction of course is Sue – the largest T rex ever found. It is a pretty amazing site. While not as large as we had pictured it would be – it’s still pretty wild to see! We spent most of out time there, but we did see some other exhibits that they had there - like an ancient Egypt one that was really awesome!
We spent several hours inside the museum then headed back towards Adams Avenue. As we were all tired and had walked a ton we tossed the idea around of catching a cab back to Union Station - but in the end we diecided to stop for dinner at a mid way point to break up the long walk back. We ended up at a Bennigans across from the Art Museum of Chicago. I got a really good Chipolte Burger and Deb got a french onion soup and a salad.
Refreshed - we headed onto Union Station where we enjoyed a nice hour ride back to the train station in Libertyville to get the car and head back to Shawn and Kims. Exhausted we all went straight to bed.
Today Kim had to go back to work so me Deb, Shawn and Nicole headed to do some shopping and hit the mall where we bought some Chicago souviners for the grandbabies.
We just hit a food court in there and Deb got some orange chicken at a China Coast and I grabbed a steak and cheese chipolte sub at Charlie's. Very good indead.
The plan tonight is to go Italian and then come back to the house where we need to pack and get ready for the ride home tomorrow.
More later...

Chicago Diary - Pt 5

Tuesday - May 29
9:28 pm

Just rolling in from a LONG day in downtown Chicago.
I am absolutely exhausted and am going right to bed. I'll download the pictures in the morning and post about all of todays activities then.
Now it's off to bed!!!
Man i'm tired!

Chicago Diary - Pt 4

Monday - 11:29 pm

Just got back to Shawn and Kims house. We went out tonight to see Pirates Of The Carribean 3. It was ok. Really LONG and hard to follow. I'll give it 2 out of 5 stars.

Just hooked the camera up to upload a few images taken today. The first one here as I mentioned earlier today - we went to the 'Village of Libertyville' for a quick Memorial day parade - most of which is pictured in the second image. We passed a Starbucks along the way and stopped in to get Deb a coffee - and I took a pic of the Paul McCartney poster hanging in the window! I can imagine the looks I got. [Probably more of the same that I got yesterday taking a picture of a brick!]

After we got back - and I posted the blog seen below from earlier today - everybody then took a NAP. A nice long nap. Felt damn good too. We should take a nap everyday I say!
We then sat down to a home cooked meal of Pork Chops and mashed potatoes. Shawn and Kim did all the cooking and refused any help from Debbie though she kept offering. We also had green beans and scalloped potatoes. Debbie also had some fruit salad. Just an awesome meal. The pork chops were made on the grill. First time I have ever had them cooked that way.
Then it was off to the movies.
Tomorrow the plan is to take the train to Union Station in Chicago and see some of downtown. By doing so we kinda limit ourselves on what we can do there as we will have no transportation inside the city, but should be fun anyway!!
More details and pics tomorrow!
Now it's time to lay down and get some shut eye!

Chicago Diary - Pt 3

Monday - Memorial Day
1:29 pm

Got up early this morning and drove down to the 'Village' of Libertyville [suprise! another village] where we watched a short Memorial Day parade - then walked over to the park where they had a ceremony and gave out a purple heart.
We then popped into a Taco Bell for a quick bite then headed back to the house. Deb is taking a nap and we're planning on a bite to eat here at Shawn and Kim's before we head out to a movie tonight.
Tomorrow the plan is to catch a train down to Union Station into downtown Chicago and do the town!
More later....

Chicago Diary - Pt 2

Sunday 5/27
8:19 p.m.

Piddled around the house this morning for a little bit then had a great pancake breakfast. Me and Shawn popped over to Starbucks to get Debbie a coffee and saw the McCartney poster for the new CD right on the front door. Very cool!
Then we all got ready and headed out to the Village of Long Grove – a suburb 35 minutes from Chicago. [Everything here is known as a ‘village’].
It was founded in the 1800’s by German settlers who established it as a trading post, which it still is to this day. Most of the buildings date back to this time as well so it definitely had that old town village feel to it. It is full of shops that we walked through all afternoon. As we walked I noticed that the bricks that formed the road had my name on them! I joked with Shawn that I needed to steal one to take back to Orlando with me for my ‘accidental’ brick collection that I have going!! [For anyone unaware – I have 2 bricks from the Cavern Club in Liverpool made famous by the Beatles].
We stopped into The Village Tavern [another ‘village’] for lunch where I had a fantastic hamburger and Debbie had the fish platter. She enjoyed that as well. After some more shopping it was getting late and we were all getting pretty tired so we headed home. We stopped into a Dairy Queen for a ice cream and sat outside to eat it - enjoying the fantastic weather today here in the area.
We returned back to Shawn and Kim’s house and Shawn had to go to work for a few hours and Debbie and Kim looked at pictures of the grandbabies. A very full day and I’m exhausted from all the walking!!! The knee held out great. Probably the most continuous walking that I have done at one time since the surgery in January – so that’s awesome.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day and there is a big parade we plan on going to. Again not sure what else is on the agenda – just playing it by ear.
Tuesday we’ll hit the Field museum and the Sears tower in downtown Chicago and see some of the sights the city has to offer.
Now it’s time for bed!!