Live 8

Live 8 is coming tomorrow, July 2nd. Basically, it is the biggest rock concert in history... or at least since the original Live Aid. Bob Geldof and Bono have teamed up to raise awareness of the dire situation in Africa. Africa needs aid, money... and soon. Things are to fragile and dire there, it seems the whole thing could just implode any day now.

The beauty of this whole thing, is the concernts aren't for money. It is being done for awareness and publicity. The goal is to pressure the world leaders in next week's G8 summit to give a little more. Hence the name, Live 8. So, what we get is all the big names in rock playing on your TV... and most asssuredly a DVD set by Christmas. You probably know about the Pink Floyd re-union.

The whole Pink Floyd story deserves its own paragraph at the very least. The two guys behind Pink Floyd are Roger Water and David Gilmore. These two have been in the biggest fued in the history of rock. Lawsuits, slander... the works. They have both claimed for years they would rather be dead than share the stage. Well, whispers have been circulating for the last couple of years (including right here) that they were looking to get back together.

of course, they are saying the chance to play together and put old beefs behind them is a small price to pay for world peace.

Bullshit

this is about money. Floyd is getting back together, and you can expect a monster stadium tour next summer.

Anyhow, it is a huge huge huge rock concert being broadcast for free. Watch it, then please drop over to their One site to sign the petition to be presented at the G8 Summit **** This just in - I have a tentative schedule of tomorrow's broadcast. All times are Eastern 12:00-6:00pm ET – Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway 12:04 – Paul McCartney & U2 Live from London 12:14 - Black Eyed Peas 12:33 - Bon Jovi 12:54 – Madonna Live from London 1:00 - Destiny’s Child 1:16 - Kanye West 1:30 -Will Smith 1:50 - Coldplay Live from London 1:56 - Toby Keith 2:13 - Dave Matthews Band (right) 2:40 - Alicia Keys 2:52 - Def Leppard 3:10 - Linkin Park and Jay-Z 3:50 - Tim McGraw Live from Rome 3:56 - Sarah McLachlan 4:11 - Maroon 5 4:28 - Green Day Live from Berlin 4:34 - Keith Urban 4:48 - Jars of Clay 4:56 - Pink Floyd Live from London 5:00 - Rob Thomas 5:21 - Stevie Wonder

Friday Fives

1. Can you share a tale of a favorite summer cookout/get together?

no. wait, I have a photo of a couple of friends (who were a couple) who fell asleep on each other while totally drunk and threw up on each other while they were asleep. How did we handle it? Did we wake them up, clean them up, make sure they were ok? nope, we took a bunch of pictures. You'll never see them though, and I won't name names. I'd say that is some kind of BBQ memory.

2. What is a favorite summer ritual of yours?

coping with the fact that we have no AC. It's midnight and it is still 80 degrees in the house. If it weren't for this fan and this ice cold cocktail, I'd have to kill all y'all. I know I grew up in Phoenix, but someone made a great point to me long ago about the heat: you can't fix it. Meaning, if it is cold out... you can put on more layers of clothes to compensate. However, if it is hot... you can only go naked. It is been made apparent to me by all concerned that is not the best solution.

3. After a long hot summer day, what is your favorite way to quench your thirst?

Serveral ice cold beers and a nap

4. The 4th of July is coming up, what plans, if any, do you have?

well, it was lookin' like I was going to have to work, but last word is I am off the hook. So, I'll be heading up into the foothills (Coal Creek Canyon) to see my old pal Ed play with one of his bands at a 4th of July festival that this tiny community has. It's great, about 30- 50 people show up. There aren't really vendors. People bring their own coolers and food and the band sets up and plays. Normally, I'd link a wonderul flyer that they made right about here... but for some psychotic reason it is a PDF file so you will have to use your imagination. You're still invited, though... and I'll talk to Ed about putting future flyers in Jpegs for us normal folks.

5. What are you looking forward to doing most before the summer ends?

Camping and playing guitar in the woods. We have lots planned though, between trips to horse races around the state and the big trip to Northern Arizona for Labor Day.

Thanks as always go to Roy, even if these questions were less fertile than my left sac since the operation. We love him, and so do you.

Boycott you

Ok, so I was watching some special about Wal Mart on cable the other night. It was a 2 hour thing on everything: the history, the success, the controversy, and the accusations. As you know, I have oft maligned Wal Mart in these pages. I still refuse to shop there. However, Wal Mart isn't to blame in all this. Wal Mart is simply delivering the best possible prices to their customers. That is a company's job - provide maximum value. So, the concern isn't with Wal Mart sending all manufacturing jobs overseas to Asia, crippling the American economy. The reason they do this is so your fat ass can have a ceiling fan for $50.

Long story short > boycott you. That is right, it is YOU who are the problem. You are the one not willing to pay 10 cents extra for that pair of pants. You are the one not willing to shop local, and instead only buy and eat at chain restruaruants. It is you who sit in your backyard and pontificate with your neighbors about the exploitation of women, minorities, and third world countries. Then it is you who heads to the big box store to get that $50 Huffy. Guess what, instead go spend $60 at the local bike shop. That money goes into your tax base, and if everyone in your neighborhood bought from the local dude instead of Wal Mart, local dude could afford to hire your kid. He could also then afford to paint that shitty looking house of his and maybe mow his lawn more than once a year.

If you supported local business, the local merchants wouldn't be out shoplifting and breaking into houses late at night. Maybe my lawn gnomes and flamingoes would still be here if you had supported local business. Maybe my wife wouldn't have left me for a Wal Mart store manager in Parker because he was "clearly more sucessful than you'll ever be!"

My point, there is a chain of events tripped every time you send your money out of your community. Got that, Haji? You're fired, I can type my own blog pieces now! In closing, I still choose not to shop at Wal Mart. Until you make the same choice, I Boycott You!