I know....it sounds clichéd.....

There is nothing....no entity, no concept, no dessert, nothing....that can evoke quite the same feelings, the same psychological "high," as being at a Dead concert in person.

Maybe it helps that I was basically raised in such a way that I "frequented" these things at an early age, so I'm more accustomed to the atmosphere of peace, love, smoke and alcohol than other people may be.....but you get used to that, you know most of the songs, you have a
far
out
time. Sometimes they play a song I don't know so well....still sounds cool, though. I still don't know which song it was, but I have my eye on a website that has all the set lists so far on this Spring '09 tour, so I'll find out soon. Whatever it was, it was a great-sounding bit of fun, quick-paced rock and roll.

They picked out, among others, two of my favorite studio songs: "Weather Report Suite" and "Unbroken Chain", the latter of which our previously uninitiated companion agreed was "beautiful." I swear, I was on the verge of crying my eyes out, overcome by the sheer beauty and surreality of the experience, while hearing these songs, as well as the encore, "Brokedown Palace". Again, maybe I'm biased, having been raised on this music, but it truly is a wonderful experience, sharing and soaking up the groovy vibrations with thousands of kindred spirits.

It must be experienced in person. Watching a DVD recording or just listening to a bootleg on a computer or tape deck is NOT the same. Unless you can somehow get thousands to gather around a giant amplifier through which a concert recording is played and behave the same way as they do when the Dead are actually there. I don't think that's happened yet, though, so even that is somewhat doubtful.

A few selections they played that I can remember (neither the complete set list nor in order):

Dancing in the Street
Tennessee Jed
Mister Charlie
They Love Each Other
Truckin
Throwing Stones
Touch of Grey
Drums > Space > Come Together
Hell in a Bucket
I Know You Rider

And I finally figured out what the other song was through a bit of Googling: The Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion)

(I know.....I'm not the biggest Deadhead ever. Still not totally evil, though.)

Peace and grooviness.

Feeling Better When I'm Feeling No Pain

Okay, so there is still some decent ice cream in town. What I think it is is a series of stores masquerading as independent entities but still obviously (by looking at the flavors) one company. Nevertheless, that "Birthday Cake" flavor really hit the spot for me yesterday afternoon. And the chocolate with brownie bits in it, whatever that one was called, was pretty good too. Not exactly my beloved Chocolate Fudge, but I doubt there will ever again be anything quite like that one.........

.......Anyway, I saw Gordon Lightfoot in concert last night. He had four guys accompany him on lead guitar, bass, percussion and keyboard. He seemed to be fairly comfortable, tossing in just a little bit of casual talk with the audience between songs. And, of course, the songs themselves were nice and varied, a mixture of old and new, soft and relatively upbeat, and a couple "back-to-nature" songs. On the whole, a fine show, with some quite beautiful sounds on some of the songs, and a few songs I hadn't heard in a looooooong time.......you know that feeling you get when you hear a song you haven't heard in years? Such a great feeling, isn't it?

Yeah, I gotta listen to those records that are on my shelf........

Just Some Ordinary Blog Stuff

Some time ago, for about four years, I worked at a stand-alone Baskin & Robbins. They always had the widest variety of distinct, quality flavors, and making an ice cream cake without the cake (called a "fudge nut," even if the nuts were replaced by sprinkles) was NOT a big deal; we had it done the next day, usually without fail. In fact, some of them were ready-made and proudly displayed in the cake freezer.

Of course, that stand-alone Baskin & Robbins is now as ancient history as Caesar or Napoleon. As is the other stand-alone Baskin & Robbins that once graced the east side of town.

The two B&Rs left in this town are both sort of halves of Siamese twins, the other halves of which are Dunkin' Donuts stores. Having worked at a B&R for four years, I know full well how things are supposed to work there.

I went to one of the B&Rs today; it was like entering the Twilight Zone. I asked for a fudge nut cake, and they asked me what it was. I explained, quite clearly, I thought, what it was and how to make it. Just use the cutter, shear off two notches' worth of a Mint Chocolate Chip tub (that's my father's preferred flavor; it's his birthday on Thursday), put it on a round white cardboard thing, remove the bit of tub that surrounds the ice cream, smooth some fudge on top with a thick swirl near the edges, sprinkle some sprinkles (or nuts) on the sides and the thick swirl, write a message on top in your favorite color (red always looks nice) with the proper frosting, and put the whole thing in a 9" box. That's all there is to it.

They refused to make it.

I didn't bother to count the small number of flavors that they had there; it would have hurt too much. It's a lovely day today, and I can really do without such pain. Back at the one where and when I worked, we had a maximum of forty-seven flavors, and, with the possible exception of the occasional "sugar free" flavor (and that "chocolate ribbon" thing, which, thankfully, didn't last), they were real, intense flavors that you could taste and savor. Most of the flavors that remain now are the most boring things imaginable, and I can't help but wonder if any of the seasonal flavors still exist. Love Potion #31, Egg Nog, Pumpkin Pie......those were frickin' awesome flavors. And, of course, my beloved Chocolate Fudge.......rich, dark, gooey.......the way chocolate should be. It's not really any of the "seasons" right now, so I can't tell right away, but my beloved Chocolate Fudge, a year-round flavor where I worked, seems to be totally extinct in my town now. Last time I saw Chocolate Fudge was when I took a drive out to Springfield....was it, two years ago now? I don't remember.......but somewhere on MacArthur Boulevard in Springfield, a little ways north of Penny Lane (the main, and perhaps only, reason anyone would want to go to Springfield*), a stand-alone Baskin & Robbins remains. Hopefully.

I don't know just how interesting this is to anyone, but I could go on and on and on about ice cream........

Anyway, I have a ticket to see Gordon Lightfoot in concert tomorrow.

Peace...........


*The Lincoln Museum is okay, but that and Penny Lane aside, Springfield seems very much a wasteland, with empty parking lots and chain stores, and very few signs of life. And since I just discovered while creating this post that Penny Lane does indeed do business online, you can just take advantage of that and not waste time driving through an endless lack of scenery to a largely empty ghost town.

Great show!

Great show, and a great guy as well.....someone I can, and indeed did, actually talk to.

And damn if it doesn't feel good to buy a couple of CDs and physically put the payment right in the artist's hand.

One of my favorites from him is called Psychedelic Relic. I wanted to share it with my psychedelic friends and cyber-acquaintances.....Roy doesn't seem that keen on the idea, but he's not opposed to me doing a "cover" of the song for you folks.

Not a bad idea......(I hope)...if I can find the time to learn how to play it, and then record it.

God bless America......It just might work..........

You know that Roy Zimmerman thing I posted a few days ago? I'm going to see him in concert tonight! Wish I could record it for you folks....