How I discovered U2

I am a big fan of U2.  I have seen them live twice, once in the late 80’s at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and most recently at the Oakland Coliseum on their last tour.  Both concerts were terrific.  In both instances the crowds were all tuned in on the same frequency, resulting in that indescribable “vibe” that you experience at a memorable live concert.

Todayfor some reason I was remembering how I discovered U2 and began my fandom.  It was seeing their live  performance of “Bad” on my TV as part of the Live Aid concert in 1985.  I had never seen or heard them before that, and the performance really knocked me out, including Bono randomly picking out girls from the audience and slow dancing with them.  After that I went out and bought “The Unforgettable Fire,” which remains one of my favorite albums.

So, with these thoughts I went to You Tube to see if there were videos of that 1985 U2 performance.  I should have known, there are lots of video of that performance.  I chose one with good quality video and sound.  Check it out here, just as I watched it all these years ago.  It helps to pretend that you have never seen these guys before or heard their music, but any way you slice it, I still dig it.

Carl Sandburg on guns

Today’s Chronicle had an interesting article about an unpublished poem that Carl Sandburg wrote concerning “a revolver,” which in the poem serves as a metaphor for all guns.  I’m pretty sure you will want to read both the article and the full Sandburg poem, which you can do here.

Even though it was never published it is very powerful, and obviously germane to today’s gun control debate.  A  couple of lines about the “revolver” that really stand out to me are:

“It is the last word.  A simple, little human forefinger can tell a terrible story with it.”

Even now the carnage continues, the latest being the 15 year-old kid in New Mexico who used an assault weapon to  kill  his mother, 3 younger siblings, and lastly his father.  Reportedly, he was going to then go to the nearby Walmart store and kill a lot of people but he changed his mind and called the police to turn himself in.  When is this horror going to stop?

Bernie–a very nice watch

We are having a wonderful time at our Tahoe/Donner place, having arrived on Wednesday morning and skiing Thursday and Friday.  Today we are just goofing off, but I did manage to go snowshoeing with my dog.  Great exercise, and terrific scenery.  I forgot to bring my camera so I don’t have any pictures for you – next time.

A couple of nights ago I watched “Bernie” via Netflix streaming video.  I really enjoyed it.  You can read about it here, but I want to focus on two things:

First, Jack Black is simply wonderful in this movie.  You probably have admitted yourself that he is a talented fellow, but if you watch this film you will see that he is even more talented than you thought.  The many songs he sings reveal a lovely voice (always right on pitch), and his acting is rife with subtle strokes of genius.  He did get a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

Second, the story takes place in a small Texas town of 7,000 folk who all seem to belong to the local evangelical church.  My grandfather was a preacher in various small Idaho towns, my mother was a child evangelist, and one of my aunts was dean of a Christian college.  Therefore, many of the songs Jack performs are songs of my childhood and I remembered all the tunes and lyrics immediately.  I can assure you that those scenes are very authentic, and worth enjoying even if you are a confirmed “back-slider” such as I. 

I highly recommend this movie.

20th anniversary on the horizon

Hi all:

Sorry I have not been able to blog lately, but my computer went down and I’m just getting it back today. 

My news is that Eileen and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary this Wednesday, the 16th.  Man, I can’t believe it.  It’s been a great ride so far and I’m hoping for more to come.  Instead of something elaborate,we are just going to head up to our Tahoe place tomorrow night and ski Squaw Valley on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Our “silver” season passes have us blacked out on Saturday and Sunday (MLK holiday) so we cannot ski on those days.  Snow shoeing with my dog will be the on tap for those days.  We’ll be coming home on Sunday afternoon.

Oh, and “Go Forty Niners!’

Debt ceiling–Pelosi sides with me…

Recall my post of December 14th, wherein I discussed the President invoking certain 14th Amendment provisions to bypass Congress and hike the debt ceiling.  Hence, I was disappointed today to read  this article.  I applaud  Nancy Pelosi for saying that she would invoke the 14th Amendment “in a second.” But, the article also makes it clear that the White House has rejected that path outright.  Why?  Even it that is their ultimate position, why not keep it in play as an arguably legal and legitimate way to bypass the craven nihilists in the Congress.  Lest you have any doubt about whether they are craven nihilists, read this article.  I’m hoping that if push comes to shove Obama will change his mind and invoke the 14th Amendment.  What say you?