Tag: Humor

Stuff that makes me laugh

3 Alternatives

3 Inexplicable Things, Music

Many years ago when I was still living in Chicago, I had a chance to see Procol Harum live at the Vic Theater, a small supper-club type venue which held (at that time) only about 600 people.  (The small number is because of the tables.)  We had dinner, and then the lads came on and blew everyone away.

Their tour was to promote their latest album, Prodigal Stranger, which I still consider one of their very best (of an extraordinary collection of albums, as any fule kno).

Anyway, what that concert confirmed for me was that if I’m ever going to watch a live band, I’m only interested in doing so in a small, intimate venue.  I’d seen the incomparable Leon Redbone in a similarly-small theater a couple of years earlier, but Redbone’s act was by definition a more intimate one, with the crooner entertaining us with many, many sly quips as well as his music.  (Oh, how I miss him.)  And one last such example:  back in the late 1970s I saw Blood, Sweat and Tears perform in Johannesburg’s Empire Theatre (800 seats) and well, blues vocalist David Clayton-Thomas, say no more.

I was reminded of all this by a chance comment made by (of all people) BritRoyal Prince William’s in joking with Ronnie Wood that he’d only come and see the Stones if they brought Taylor Swift along.

The thing that both Swift and the Stones have in common for me is that I’d rather have a rat cage strapped to my face than attend the mega-concerts of either.  This is not just the ranting of an elderly man, by the way:  I’ve always preferred to watch a concert in a smaller venue, as I’ve demonstrated above, even when I was a young rock musician myself.  Frankly, if the concert has to have giant TV screens for the audience to see the act perform, I’d rather watch the concert on a DVD afterwards than be part of a massive crowd.

The whole “Swiftie” phenomenon, of course, leaves me ice cold because, when all’s said and done, young Taylor is just a country singer, and I’m not a particular fan of country music per se, although there are a few country singers I wouldn’t mind seeing live, provided that the show was in a place like the Gruene (Texas) town hall, where I once saw Merle Haggard, or Austin’s Liberty Lunch bar (Bonnie Raitt, in her pre-Nick Of Time days).

And finally (!) I come to the point of this post, which is:  if I were going to attend a concert in a small country bar like Austin’s Broken Spoke or Route 20 in Racine, Wisconsin (where I once saw Bachman Turner Overdrive and Steppenwolf in a double-header), which three country artists would I prefer to see the most (instead of Taylor Swift)?

In no particular order:

  • David Allan Coe

    (I can’t believe he’s still alive)
  • Willie Nelson

    (ditto)
  • Shania Twain

And none of them would have to do a modern-style “show” (lighting, multiple costume changes, massive sound systems etc.);  just a small backing band, a bar stool and (preferably) an acoustic guitar would be fine.  I want to see the artist, not special effects.

Parenthetically, I wonder how well Taylor Swift would perform, under similar circumstances.  Would she still be as impressive?

Your three choices in Comments.

News Roundup

Bad News

Wait, I thought it was always Black people forced into doing the cleaning… or have I been lied to?  Anyway:

From the Police Blotter (NYC Division):


...of course he did;  they’re not Republicans, are they?

In Parish Notes (Islam Division):


...insha’Allah.

From The Great Cultural Assimilation Project©:


...and for a bonus, he came in (illegally) through their Ukranian refugee program.  Also:


...for those people who’ve been in a coma for the past ten years.  And back Over Here:


...here’s a suggestion for his 17th:


…



...anyone getting sick of this?  I’m not.



...sorry, but we’re running low on avgas, thanks to FJB.

And the final word on this topic:


...ya thank?

And speaking of someone who should be tossed out of a helicopter:


...is she threatening us, or just harking back to all the violence (but not murders) the last time Trump won in November?  Anyway as I recall, it was her crowd doing all the violence.

And that’s not all #OrangeManBadTweeter is going to do:


...when did Fauxcahantas become Nostradamus?



...just STFU and sing, dude.

And moving on with some 

  (…6.5″)

...uphold the family tradition and have his sister-in-law die in a car “accident”?


...huh?  Let’s remind ourselves who we’re talking about, here:

Way too skinny for my taste, but surely there’s someone…

And on that despairing note, we end the news.

News Roundup

Bad News

Aaaahhhh… Australians, keeping it classy as always.

In Everybody Panic! News:


...♫ ♪ ♫ won’t be fooled again ♪ ♫  [/Peter Townsend]


...published 96 hours ago.  I report, you decide.


...the line of volunteers starts behind me, and quit that shoving, y’all.

Speaking of vermin:


...fuck me, y’all can’t even stop killing each other on your very own holiday.

In The Great Cultural Assimilation Project©:


...our Nigel may want to look to the rather elegant “Greek Solution”:


...too bad this approach wouldn’t work in the Rio Grande.


...the Strylians were never going to go for the”Greek Solution” — unless of course the Chinese migrants were unvaccinated.


...send him to Greece.  By boat.


...dunno about you, but I’m not shocked at all.  In some Kraut cities, it’s 100%.

In Political News:


...if by “many”, you mean “all”, Tommy:  then yes, yes there is.


...you had me at “Anna Paulina Luna”:


And in the Corporate Bonehead Department:


...which means no more of this:

...or this:

...or even this:

...you stupid, stupid cunts.

And speaking of…


...of course she did.  Just imagine if it were a man who’d done it:  oh, the lamentations.


...of course it was.  I wonder who pays this “expert’s” salary?

And in still more meaningless 

  

...welcome to a man’s world, sweetheart.

And as we saunter down :


...one of the better examples thereof, I think:

And speaking of lying, that’s the end of the news.

Mugged While Working

Crime

Go to California on business, get robbed:

A member of the Secret Service was robbed at gunpoint during President Joe Biden‘s visit to California over the weekend, according to authorities.

Police in Tustin said in a press release that officers responded to the call of a possible robbery at around 9:36 p.m. PT on Saturday in a local residential community.

Officers found a member of the Secret Service whose bag was stolen at gunpoint, Tustin police said, adding that an “officer (agent) involved shooting occurred” during the incident.

Tustin police said it was unclear whether any suspect was injured as a result of the shooting, but officers did locate some of the victim’s belongings in the area.

I would really like to know if the SecServ flunky actually shot the scrote.  Also, the report doesn’t say if it was a male or female agent;  and I would really, really like to know that little snippet.

Just, you know, for the record.