DrW

Early in her career. critics complained how Gillian Welch as a Southern California girl could produce authentic Appalachian country music. But here you can judge yourself. David Rawlings' acoustic guitar is outstanding.

Another emphatic "yes" to Zappa's question "Does humor belong in music?". In 1981, an album called "Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports" was released. While Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason was a co-producer and actually played the drums, all music and lyrics were provided by Carla Bley, who is better known as a {free} jazz artist. Most vocals were by Robert Wyatt (ex-Soft Machine). In this song, they poke fun of musical "minimalists" (Satie, Cage, Glass) by addressing them "mineralists". My personal favorite: a spoof on alien encounters...

Most late-night televangelists have two things in common: 1. They are avid customers of "just for men" or related hair-dyeing products. 2. They like to be addressed as "Dr."; in most cases their doctorate is in divinity, which is more of an honorary title. Most of them promise you rewards in health matters or in material form if you donate money to their church. Even if you believe the premise that God will look favorably on those supporting his cause financially, a question these televangelists should be asked is if the believer would gain the same benefits by donating the money to their local church or charity.

The Talking Heads live on German TV a few years before "Stop Making Sense", with Adrian Belew on guitar. Belew's contributions (it was after his stint with Zappa and before joining King Crimson) give this concert a special place in the Talking Head's catalogue. My only question: Adrian, who made you wear these pants?

One of my favorite "bands that nobody else knows", the "Scaramanga Six". First, a live/studio performance several years ago. Please be patient as the fun part starts at about 2 minutes. Their newest work shows a return to their punk/rock origins...

Now I know why they looked so elegant... Definition of minuet 1 : a slow graceful dance in ³/₄ time characterized by forward balancing, bowing, and toe pointing.

Margaret Court in January 2020: "But I always thought Steffi was the best. She was my favourite. She won the Grand Slam in 1988 (Australian, French, Wimbledon and US Open) and I always loved watching her because of her athleticism and style. She was one of the best athletes I had seen." Court rated Serena Williams ... at No. 2, followed by Billie Jean King at No. 3, Martina Navratilova at No. 4, Chris Evert at No. 5, Monica Seles at No. 6, Evonne Goolagong Cawley at No. 7, Maria Bueno at No. 8, Justine Henin at No. 9 and Venus Williams at No. 10. https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Tennis_Stories/83277/margaret-court-i-always-thought-steffi-graf-was-the-best-she-was-my-favourite/

When I was about seven, my mom decided that summer vacations on the beach of the Baltic or North Sea were too boring; instead, we were going to the Alps for 3-4 weeks. Every other day or so we would go hiking. On the days in-between, the main attraction was the local public swimming pool in Serfaus/Austria. That was in the 1960s, and the pool was fed by mountain creeks and not heated except by the sun during the day. Often, until late afternoon my sister and I were the only ones daring to go into the pool. Our main game (and the reason I am telling the story in this context) was to save insects from drowning. We would carefully carry them to the pool side and let them dry in the sun. We would rescue them regardless of species. There were many grasshoppers, but also bumble-bees and wasps.

In 2009, Mikhail Gorbachev released an album of love songs on occasion of the 10th anniversary of his wife, Raissa, due to leukemia.

One of my favorite bands of the 1990s. For me, the highlight is the interplay between both vocalists - the more aggressive sound of lead singer Miki Berenyi and the ethereal back-ups of Emma Anderson.

Laurie Anderson's album "Big Science" was released 40 years ago. My favorite song...

Based on your samples, I got the album "Setting the Woods On Fire" by the Walkabouts (I love the Roeg film "Walkabout" after which they are named). While I do not see too many similarities to Heron Oblivion, I liked it very much and will dig deeper into their work. With bands outside of the mainstream, it is generally difficult to find what you like. To me, one source is the Texas Tech student-run radio station KTXT; another source is this thread. One day I heard on KTXT a psych-folk version of Blue Oyster Cult's "Flaming Telepaths". The band was called Espers, and the vocalist was Meg Baird. Looking further into Meg Baird, I came across Heron Oblivion.

Yoko Ono's "Approximately Infinite Universe" is a pretty good album. She writes musically interesting songs, from ballads (I want my love to rest tonight; Death of Samantha) to up-tempo rock (Peter the dealer). While her vocals are the weakest part, the backing band (Elephant's Memory) is in very good shape (especially Stan Bronstein on sax). Some of the lyrics are "naive feminist", but others show a keen sense of observation and even some humor: "I went to shake hands with the president in Miami, I went to a rock show to see Mick Jagger. And you'd never believe it, surprise to my life, They had paint on their faces just like mommy's."

No. Most of the exhaust gas will be CO2 (and water). CO is just a small (but very toxic) byproduct due to some incomplete combustion. Modern catalytic converters actually reduce the CO amount to close to zero if the engine is properly tuned.

No. If enough oxygen is present (and this is almost always the case), the products of combustion are water and CO2. E.g., the equation for the combustion of octane, a component of car fuel: 2 C8H18(l) + 25 O2(g) → 16 CO2(g) + 18 H2O(g)

After a family vacation in Florida, my son and I took the Sunset Limited from Orlando to San Antonio (that was before hurricane Kartrina; since Katrina, the Orlando-New Orleans segment has been suspended). Nearly two nights in chairs, but we did not mind. Food in the dining car was very good. As someone else mentioned above, if your party is less than four, they seat you with somebody else. Usually, I hate this; however, having a charming six-year-old with you makes the whole situation much easier. Scenery is OK for most parts, but of course cannot compete with the western US. The most interesting part was the journey through Louisiana where they had a National Park ranger in the lounge car who talked about nature and history. On the segment through East Texas the train had to make several unplanned stops to let freight trains pass; the tracks belong to the Union Pacific and their trains have priority. We arrived in San Antonio two hours late, but we did not mind as this meant less waiting time for the Greyhound to Lubbock. We thoroughly the Amtrak trip - I would do it again One scene is forever engraved in my memory. A few rows in front of us was a young woman with a 4- to 5-year-old kid. The kid made a mess by spreading chips all around on the floor in front of their seats. After watching this patiently for an hour or so, the elderly conductor (black) handed the young woman (white) a carpet sweeper to clean up the mess. (Admittedly, we were seated too far away to hear if she asked for the sweeper.)

Well, the Maumee and Western Railroad does not mind weeds...

Sorry. Snopes says it is fake. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fauxtography-sea-horse/

In The Last Waltz, The Band was not in their best shape. "Rock of Ages" is a far better live recording. Well, in the end we will just have to agree to disagree - I prefer "Stop Making Sense".

I like the Monterey Pop documentary very much. However, it seems to me much easier to make a "best of" movie when you can select from three days of footage. The Demme movie just shows the well-choreographed build-up of a single TH concert, starting with Byrne and a cassette player and ending with the full 9-person band.

My favorite Talking Heads song, with the keyboards replaced by a string sextet... And for those of you who prefer the original, here is the version from the best concert movie ever made... Here an early version. The audience shots do not indicate much enthusiasm... Here is a cover version by Widespread Panic. The parts where they just play the TH song do not add anything new. However, the two guitar solos are excellent additions. Lastly, visually their bass player is no match for Tina Weymouth.

Three outstanding live versions of one of the finest rock songs ever, "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (written by Winwood, Capaldi and Wood of Traffic). The two first versions feature Jerry Garcia on guitar. First, the Grateful Dead... Now, Traffic with Jerry Garcia... Several excellent cover versions of this song exist, e. g. by Crosby, Stills and Nash (I really liked Steven Stills' vocals) or Jimi Hendrix. However, IMHO the best cover by far is by Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper. They are expanding the song into territory not touched by the original. And they incorporated the "Hey Jude" theme 20 years before the Grateful Dead. Enjoy...

One of my favorite bands. They just made one album, the eponymous "Heron Oblivion". All the concert clips I could find from this band had Meg Baird's vocals turned even further down than on the record and I decided to go with the album audio instead.

On TV The 7-1 drubbing of Brazil by Germany (well, I am German) at the 2014 World Cup, in Brazil of all places. Especially the 5-0 first half stands out. Somewhat embarrassed by their riches, the German players did not even really celebrate goals 6 and 7 anymore. Live I never went to important sporting events where not a family member was involved. As my son has been playing in the Longhorn band for the last 5 years, I have attended a number of recent Texas football games in Austin. The most dramatic moments all occurred when Bijan Robinson was touching the ball. This kid will be special in the NFL (he could enter the 2023 draft as junior).

As somebody who is not a US citizen, I have questions regarding the legislative process. Let us assume that the House and Senate turn Republican in the November elections, and they pass a bill outlawing abortions. Case 1: Biden is still president and he does not sign the law. What can congress do to force him? Case 2: Forward to 2024. The Republican candidate wins and becomes president. He (she) is presented with the bill outlawing abortions and signs it into law. The 2028 election is a complete blue sweep. Can the Democrats (congress/president) overrule the abortion ban? How does the legislative procedure work? I am aware that some of the scenarios are very unlikely. I just would like to know how the legislative process works. Thanks