Wmcmanus

I don't think that I don't like their music. I think I've never given it mush of a chance. What little I have heard has left me with sort of an, "I don't get it" type of feeling, at least relative to all of the excitement and hype that they managed to generate. Kind of the same thing for me with Pink Floyd. Other than DSOTM and The Wall, I never really listened to them much as I was growing up with music, mostly from a "classic rock" point of view. Much of what they did to make their mark slightly pre-dated my own musical awareness, and was also a little far afield from mainstream radio play. When I later bought a box set of all of their studio albums and plowed through it all, I kind of got it and now at least have much respect for what they accomplished musically. Although Floyd was sort of a late discovery for me, I didn't get "hooked" as such as I did, for example, with the Beatles, Dylan, and the Beach Boys. All were a bit before my time, despite their radio play. I didn't "discover" them (in terms of my personal collection) until my college years as opposed to high school or earlier (as with Marley, The Band, The Doors, The Stones, etc). "Group" music has always been kind of an odd thing for me. There are some groups/bands that "grab me" for a while, and I'll become a big fan but then eventually tire of them; others that remain as staples throughout the years; others that are fun to sample but really never stick, etc. So I'm always willing to give something like this DVD set a shot to see what I've been missing. It's totally different with "voice" music. Either I like a voice, or I don't. Paul McCartney, yes. James Taylor, yes. Phil Collins, no. Not that I dislike his voice. He's got an objectively great voice. Just not compelling to me. If PopMarket offers a Phil Collins deal tomorrow, I'll say, "Meh..."

This really is a useful article as it points out the obvious which is sometimes easy to miss in situations like this because you get so pulled into it. As the author states, it's no disrespect to the dead and wounded and those immediately affected by this kind of tragedy when you pull away from it a bit and do some positive things in your own life concerning those who are nearest and dearest to you. I remember being in DC on a business trip during the time that the sniper guy and his kid companion were bumping people off out of the back of their car. (They actually got arrested while I was in town.) But prior to that, my mom was absolutely petrified that I'd be next. Yet, the odds of that were less than getting run over by a bus. When next I saw her (a couple of months later) she gave me a bear hug like never before. I think she had just gotten too sucked into the media coverage and personified it to a greater degree than was necessary, or healthy, for her. That being said, nothing can ever take away the scars that this will leave on the victims and their families, or on all of those who were nearby and bore witnesses to the horror, or on Boston and the city's most wonderful and highly renowned event. It will never be the same. The scoundrels behind this knew that it would have this effect, and in their sick and twisted minds, that's their greatest "victory" -- their ability to instill fear and sorrow on the masses.

PopMarket is at it again! Those blood suckers are always geting me to click a couple of buttons and spend mo money. Today its what is rumored to be a fantastic DVD box set of Grateful Dead concert footage for $75 (normal price on Amazon and such seems to be $96-100-ish). http://www.popmarket.com/?cid=nl%3A665024611&utm_medium=email&utm_source=generator-popmarket&utm_campaign=email-generator-popmarket-20130416-nl665024611&utm_content=nllink-2790590b-PopMarket.com IMAGE (Less than 4 hours left.) Must admit, I've never really "gotten into" the Dead, at least not on CD but since they seem to be more or a performance type of experience, perhaps the video aspect will draw me in and make me a fan.

It's pretty simple these days:

It doesn't matter where you go, they'll find you!

Congrats, Shelly@

Jimi Hendrix on gayageum: http://boingboing.net/2013/03/25/jimi-hendrix-on-a-gayageum.html

Sorry that I missed this thread. It would have been fun. Of course, I would have picked G'Town to get knocked off in the first round... not!

I chuckled...

STFU, Crappy! Nah, just kidding. Glad to hear that things are going well for you.

Good luck to the Gators.

Good news, Dinny. Let the healing begin. Continued thoughts and prayers for your sister, Ken.

Happy birthday, Larry! (Insert favorite emoticon, animation, funny picture, or other pleasantry here. I would but I just can't keep pace with guys like Grahame, Jim, Al, etc!)

Nice pic. I'm looking forward to the video...

Happy birthday, Ryan!

That definitely happened in Little Cayman in the 1980s when there were only two cars on the Island. When I first arrived in Grand Cayman in '96, I made a weekend trip to Little Cayman and there were only about a dozen cars, even then. At that time, there were 40 residents (now closer to 170) and most of them were seasonal workers at the one true hotel or at the handful of bed and breakfast types of places. Little Cayman is a place for newly webs, over-feds, and nearly deads.

Don't you just want to know more about these bad girls and what they did to get in this situation...

Laughing out load! My worst experience ever with tipping happened a couple of years ago when I was very late for a flight back to Cayman on American Airways. Normally with American I use curb side check in. They charge I think $2 per bag for the company, and then you can tip whatever. So I'm accustomed to giving $5 per bag (as a tip, in addition to whatever they charge) and that seems to be pretty much the standard. They just check you in on the computer and then toss your bag onto a dolly. After the dolly fills up with bags, I suppose they need to wheel in that batch and return to their post, but basically it's no big deal. $5 is about right and they always seem pleased with that, or at least it seems to be within the realm of expectation. But this time was different. The guy said, "Uh oh, it looks like it's too late. But wait, there might just be something I can do for you." So he quickly calls someone to see if maybe he can still get my sorry ass and my bag on. He gets a positive response, apparently, but whatever he's doing, he's really pushing his own luck with his contact on the other end, and it means that I need to quickly follow him inside, and we need to move fast! So off we go, and then he disappears with my bag and doesn't come back for about 5 minutes. Don't know where he went, but it must have been a long way. He might have had to take it down to the plane himself for all I know. Eventually, he comes back and is acting all proud of what he's accomplished for me, and I'm completely oblivious to all of his extra effort, just thinking about my own near disaster that (but for his heroic efforts) was narrowly averted. It would have cost me a $75 change fee, a night in the airport hotel (another $175 or so with tax), and problems with the college because I would have had to cancel my class that night and I'm pretty sure I was giving an exam! So I reach into my pocket and hand him the same $5 that I had slipped out of my wallet initially when I first walked up to the curb side check-in before realizing that it would be such a close call. The guy palmed it at first and didn't look at it until he got 2 steps away from me, and then he completely went off on me. Not load, not anything that would cause a scene, but very clearly showed me what a dickhead I had been. Something like, "You know, it's not worth. I busted my ass for you, and put myself in a situation where I could have gotten in trouble for breaking the fucking rules. Not bending. Breaking! And for what? Five dollars? Fuck it. I'm done helping people out of jams. I could have stayed out there and checked in 10 more bags by now..." So now I'm hurriedly fishing for my wallet, and grabbing for $20 bills and he says, "Keep your money" and walks away. As a result of this experience, my standard is now $10 per bag, and anything extra that they do automatically makes it $20. If ever there is another extra, extra special case, it will be $40 or $50. Not for their sake, but for the sake of my own peace of mind. I hate it, hate, hate, hate it, when I get that feeling of being a total heel. But I wasn't even trying to be cheap, I was just focused on my own issues and was nervous about whether I'd get on that flight. Totally oblivious to his needs, let alone my need to show him some appreciation beyond, "Hey, thanks." Oh well, you live and learn. Now I feel like a big wheel when I give $10 after someone in front of my gave $2 or $3.

Happy birthday, Bonnie! It sure looks like you had a lot of fun!