TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: this is easily the most graphic-intensive post I've made to date. Because of that, it might take a moment or two for all of the photos to load on your device - my apologies for any problems.)
Of many, having the time to take on (self-absorbed) hobby-like projects is a big perk of being retired (or in hibernation or whatever I am doing now). I recently completed one that I will share with you now.
If you've paid any attention at all, you know I like music. Like on an obsessive compulsive level. I've written often about music here, including what is now Volume I of IT'S ALIVE. In that first installment, I weighed in with my informed list of the best live recordings.
But wouldn't it be fun to bring this stuff to life, or at least add some color?
Done, because last weekend, I scanned in all of the concert ticket stubs I had saved over the years. I also compiled a sortable table of the concerts I've attended (ticket stub or no).
Yes, one does have time to spare in retirement!
With that out of the way, let's start with some statistics. By my reckoning, I've attended
at least 99 different concerts,
by 72 different bands,
in 41 unique venues,
in 25 cities, in 12 states/regions, and across 4 countries.
Below is a reduced-res gallery of the ticket stubs in chronological order; an online slideshow of the full-res photos is available here.
Shocker, but the band I've seen the most is Rush (8 times), followed by The Rollings Stones and Foo Fighters (4 times each), and then The Grateful Dead (3 times). Nothing to be ashamed of there.
And here is a sortable list of the concerts that's kind of fun. At least if you're retired.
I'll wrap with some illustrative photos. The first two are where I cut my teeth going to shows, the Palace Theater in Albany (as it looked in my day), and SPAC in Saratoga (as it appeared at its opening in 1966). The third is my view of Rush at the O2 Arena in 2013 in London.
FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES Arthur, with time available now since nursing Mrs. Crup back to health after a touch o' the virus, shared this on Wednesday. It is an in-depth interview with a leading conservative, Tom Nichols, on today's state of affairs. I hope you'll take the time to watch it.
But Arthur entitled his email to me "Preaching to The Choir" - he's referring to Mr. Nichols, right? It's not like I drone on and on about Trump and the Republicans to a receptive readership, right?
Just before deadline, the dreamy and dreaming Elizabeth "Polly" Michaels expressed her support for new political options.
I completely agree - in a perfect world. But I live in fear of another 2000 election scenario. Gore would have been elected president with no fuss if Nader hadn't run as a 3rd party candidate.
Thank you to any one that is reading this newsletter. And have a great weekend.
KLUF How about not just the single greatest live song, but the single greatest rock song, period? I'll take on all challengers to this, my favorite song, Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane", from his Rock n Roll Animal live album.
