Watching an old episode of Ed Sullivan and The Rolling Stones did “Paint It Black”. It led to reminiscing about past Stone’s concerts I have attended(seen them 6 times in four different decades).

I realized that my first Stone’s show was 45 years ago, tonight. It was in the stadium were the Cleveland Indians played their home games.

5 of us went up the day before and camped out in a parking lot in downtown Cleveland. Back then, lots of people camped out for shows, and it was always a hell of a party. We took two pony barrels with us drinking one of them the night before the show.

The next day we discovered that my little brother had somehow broken the tap for the kegs, but we rationalize that could still get beer out until the pressure equalized. So, we decided to take the keg into the show.

We used a muck basket to hold the keg and ice. If you don’t know, muck baskets are these large plastic baskets with rope handles that are used when mucking horse stalls(cleaning the previous nights horse shit mixed in with the straw). They’re the perfect size for pony kegs, and since they’re made of plastic, they’re easy to clean. And, they’re ideal since a couple of guys can grab each handle when walking.

Anyway, as we approached the turnstiles to enter the stadium, they were making everyone get rid of their glass bottles. There was a mound of broken, and not broken, liquor bottles about a half a foot high and 3 or 4 feet across.

We crossed the broken glass about to enter when the guy ask us what was under the sleeping bag(we covered the keg in the muck basket with a sleeping bag). We informed him it was a keg. He replied “let me see”, so I lifted the bag and showed him the keg. He said “ok”, and let us enter with it(we had to lift it over the turnstile). It was pretty early when we got there, so we took up a space in the field right in front of the stage.

The show was Peter Tosh first(in the 70s he was a pretty well known Reggae musician), then Kansas, with the Stones headlining.

Someone came to with some clear tubing that we managed to fit into the base of the tap(it was one of those two-prong taps… I don’t even think they make those anymore???). That worked fine until the pressure equalized(remember, my little brother has broken the tap the night before).

I scrounged up a pocket knife started carving away at the bung(kegs had wooden bungs back then) and managed to carve a hole through it, so we were back in business.

This is getting long so… as myself and a friend were holding up the keg while little bro was under it chugging out of the bung hole, Kieth Richards nudged Mick Jagger and pointed to us.

There was a lot more craziness that weekend, but this is getting long… maybe another time.

To sum up, 45 years ago at this instant, I was getting shit faced in a parking lot in downtown Cleveland Ohio.

There's an enormous sunspot on the Sun right now. It's about 125k miles from end to end... it's fucking big! It is also blasting out major flares, one of which will hit the planet tomorrow night causing the aurora borealis to be seen, likely, as far south as Alabama.

 

So I decided to check out the spot, today, using some binocs(made some new solar filters for my ED binocs last month). Out back of my place is a nice garden with a gazebo. Thought that it would be the perfect place(I also wanted to give the 8x42s I recently got a good thorough workout). I get out there and there's a bunch old geezers and geezettes blasting out Fleetwood Mac and smoking weed. Hell, I'm old, but these fuckers were old old... like 70s and 80s old. Just partying their asses off.

 

I didn't partake(don't smoke that shit), but I did make some new friends.

 

edit: check this out. Starting at about 2300(7:00pm) Friday night, then at about 11:00pm shit gets real. This has the potential to be a historic event(not end-of-the-world shit, but some disruptions of communications/satellites.

 

https://www.swpc.noa...wind-prediction

The eclipse is 59 days away. Trying to decide between Carbondale Il, Vincennes In, IU at Bloomington, Franklin In, or Cleveland. This time, instead of fighting, what will be, another MASSIVE clusterfuck of a traffic jam, I'm going to get a hotel for the weekend/Monday and wait it out.

 

Carbondale has a NASA sponsored event, as does the John Glenn NASA Research Center in Cleveland, so it will likely be one of those.

 

Anyone planning anything? If not, you should- it is one hell of a spectacle that you will remember for the rest of your life... it's a mindfuck to your senses seeing everything go from broad daylight to darkness in a few minutes, and then seeing twilight 360 around you. Also, seeing the solar atmosphere is pretty fucking cool, too.

 

I tried making reservations about a year ago, and none of the hotels would do it, now they're charging $600/night... assholes!

Saw probably a 90% eclipse a few years ago, from campus.  Looking forward to the full experience.

 

Prepare to have your socks knocked off. Saw a pretty good analogy describing a similar situation... 95%totality verses 100%totality is analogous to going to Disney World, parking in the lot, and then leaving without going in. Sure, you saw it, but you didn't experience it.

 

It throws your mind for a loop. We are used to it taking 30-45 minutes  every evening for it to go from sundown to dark. During the eclipse, it happens in 3-4 minutes! You can literally see it getting darker. Even though you know what's going on, it still fucks with the mind, and everything has a weird silvery glow. And, the temperature change in those last few moments... it's pretty weird. During totality, be sure to look around a bit too- it's crazy seeing twilight on all horizons. Seeing the Sun's corona is a bonus on top of everything else. And, the "diamond ring".

 

If you have a pair of binoculars, be sure to use them during totality to get a good look at the corona- you will also likely see some large orange/red solar flares jutting off the Sun's surface contrasted against the silvery corona. Binocs will really highlight this difference. If you don't have any, it will be worth it to grab a cheap pair from Amazon or Walmart- you won't regret it!(I have 4 pair, but justified buying a new pair of 12x56 ED roof prisms for the occasion- I've wanted them for a while but couldn't justify spending the money since I have pair of 10x50 Leupolds and 7x50 Fujinons- both porro prisms).

 

If you do use binoculars, be sure to set the focus before the eclipse so you don't waste time trying to figure it out during totality. Probably best to focus them on a star the night before- stars are point sources of light, so you can get perfect focus using them. If you forget, focus on a distant object that morning.

 

We've decided to make Indy our primary destination(it's close, and serviced by interstates). Rob wanted to go to the Children's Museum, and while they do have a lot of programs that day, they don't have a lot of outside viewing options. The Speedway is partnering with Purdue and NASA for the event, so that is the destination. It's enormous, has a series of technical lectures for those more advance, and talks/programs for those with less experience/kids. And, it's cheap as hell($20/ticket; kids get in free) and one of three official NASA  broadcasting sites.

 

Hopefully, the weather will be fine, so the plan is Indy, but we're ready to drive west to Illinois or north to Cleveland if the morning's weather report require a change.

 

It should be a blast. We sat in traffic for 13 hours after the last eclipse, and it was worth every minute of it, but that was western Kentucky with little infrastructure. Indy shouldn't be nearly as bad.

Damn! That kid on the drums, also, not going to lie, I'd be pretty excited to see a volcano burp out a cloud like that, but the non-volcanologist in me would probably run like hell.

Also, were is everyone?

Wow! Just realized I’m the only one still living that was in the group that went to the show that night.

My daughter is a member of the Children's Museum in Indy, and that is only a few miles north of Franklin, so it's getting serious consideration. Plus, the hotel rates are much better. I'm leaning towards Cleveland, though, since the Great Lakes Science Center is having 3 days of NASA sponsored events. It's a bit farther to drive(2.5 hours vs 5), though.

Kentucky is one of the few states(only state???) that have off-year gubernatorial elections. Our current governor, Andy Beshear, is a moderate Democrat, and networks have claimed that is the most popular governor in the nation. We are also a solidly red state. He was elected because our last governor(Matt Bevin) was a despised asswipe that attacked teachers, and ended Kentucky's very successful implementation of Obama's Affordable Care Act(it was used as a model for other states). The Act was put in place by Gov. Andy's father who was our, then, governor.

 

The teachers were protesting a bill, that Gov. Bevin tried to push through the legislature, which would've taken some funding from public schools and allocate it to private schools(including parochial institutions). Most of us supported the teachers as did Andy. He won by a close margin(5500 votes).

 

This election, Gov. Andy, is running against a staunch conservation, and former McConnell acolyte(also served as his counsel in the senate) and current attorney general, Daniel Cameron. He's the guy that wouldn't prosecute the cops that killed Breonna Taylor.

 

He also supports the state's draconian anti-abortion law that prohibits all abortions except to save the life of the mother. That's it!

 

Many are watching this election as it is supposed to be a bellwether for next year's national elections.

 

Anyway, here is one of Andy's latest campaign ads:

 

 

 

 

Here is what Megan Thee Stallion thought of Cameron during her SNL appearance a couple of years ago(Cameron is black):

 

 

Oh, Republicans control both chambers of our state legislature. During last year's elections they tried get a constitutional amendment passed that would include the abortion ban into our constitution. It failed.

^^^ Not "Boom Boom" which he re-released just prior to his his death, but a hell of a tune, no less.

 

Have AIC Unplugged playing through, right now.

Here, let's cleanse our palates; John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom".

 

fuck it:

 

I was at a Pat Travers show many year ago. When he started playing "Boom Boom", my, then, first wife started jumping and prancing about... I had to remind her of the song's origins. She wasn't too bright, but goddamn, she was pretty. Anyway, it's a Little Walter misogynist shitfest he did in the late 40s. Good song, though.

If you like Jazz, you probably already know, but for others:

 

Goddamn, Louis Jordan:

 

Going through an old hard drive and found some good ones I'd nearly forgot about.

 

Playing now: Les Paul Trio(Complete Decca Master Takes)- Begin The Beguine

There's bound to be some Trumpers that won't perceive the very obvious, here. Also, since most country music fans are politically conservative, new country artists probably shouldn't try to alienate most of the fan base. This guy, Samuel Saint(he's an ex-Christian artist), also has a pretty good response to Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town" that mocks the shit out that whole redneck culture enshrined in Aldean's stupid fucking song.

 

Where Were You(on Jan 6th):

 

Going through a box of old CDs and found a bootleg that a friend had made for me a couple of weeks before he passed. New Riders of the Purple Sage recorded live from a show at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati on Halloween 1971. On this night, Jerry Garcia(Grateful Dead) accompanied the band on pedal steel. If you are unfamiliar, they were an alt-country/country rock/hippie country band that garnered quite a bit of popularity back in the day. I've linked a couple of their songs in this thread, previously.

 

Exceptionally good, on that night, was the band's cover of "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke". A song written by Joe Maphis(I have linked Maphis' version in this thread, previously) and originally released by Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs(two pioneers of the Bluegrass genre) in late 1952. Also really really good, is a cover of the Band's "The Weight".

 

The entire show can be listened to/downloaded, here: https://archive.org/...-10-30d1t07.shn

If you're wondering what i was referring to in the other thread:

 

Goddamn, she is great!

fuck it:

 

For what it's worth, Brenda Lee is the first show I ever attended. I think it was 1966

 

Goddamn, Louis Jordan:

 

 

 

Damn! I can see ignoring Brenda Lee, but Louis Jordan??? Damn, this is the best example of jump blues ever recorded. It's a fucking masterpiece!