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B Roll,
Hey don't blame Minnesota. Remember, Quark is a sub atomic particle. She probably isn't familiar with spleefs either. Her's is a small world after all. :-)
Quark
No, I'm not in a band. I was for a while after I left college, but I mainly played harmonica and sang background vocals.
I remember u recent posted something to me about people living in different worlds, but where the heck is Minnesota that you don't know Bob Marley? I'm sure you'd recognize some of his music.
I Shot the Sheffif
Stir It Up
One Love
Redemption Song
I think those are some of his songs that you'd be most likely to be familiar with.
Wikipedia says "Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music..." He died of some kind of cancer while in his mid-30s.
I love his phrasing and find his voice to be very evocative. I once listened to a radio program in which a number of older Rastafarians were interviewed. The things I remember from the conversation was 1) that it was hard to understand them thruogh their heavy accents (which may be why I only remember one thing which is 2) that reggae music use to be called "the sweet music".
mstaggerlee,
Man everyone seems a little touchy today. My comment about seeing the Dead live was a statement in general and not directed at you personally. Anyone that knows that they saw the Dead precisely 176 times I'll bow to. You are the true DeadHead here! I certainly never saw them that many times ...nor could I remember anyway given the nature of things I experienced at those concerts. I intended to acknowledge your exquisite taste and throw in my two bits for those less refined than you. I have a guess about you however.....mstaggerlee....I'll bet you are 54 years old...maybe 55. Am I close? :-)
Quark,
Re: Ease of talking to Al.
I have had numerous occasions to interact with Al. The first several were awkward to say the least. Al is charming on stage but distant and aloof off on his own. Like a lot of celebrities he puts up a protective wall. Franni is the exact opposite; warm and approachable as is his daughter Tomasin. It was until Al saw me interacting with Franni and Tomasin that he seemed to accept me. We spent several hours together last summer at the Anoka County Game Fair. It must have been the 20th time we had met. It was the first time he relaxed a little more. I have been told that this a common trait of comics and humorists. Garrison is also painfully shy. When it comes to policy however, Al is in his element. He knows his shit and is pretty forthright in his sharing of his opinions. The point is that anyone who Franni would marry is got to be OK. Anyone who could raise such a beautiful and generous person as Tomasin has to be special. Al is just a bit of a schmuck , (personally), at times, but he is seriously progressive in his politics. He wants to be taken seriously and is over-compensating perhaps.
@B Roll -
Expceted some kinda reply. Are we cool, or have you just given up on me?
cx: I meant to type kind of affect...not kid sorry
B Roll,
Hey dude I'm just messin with you. I do believe I can see your words blushing though. Shakespeare would say that thou dost protest too much! I'm just jealous of your pipes. You said, and I quote: "But it apparently has some kid of affect on some women. I don't get it." Firstly, don't you mean effect? If you describe the symptoms in great detail, I may be able to determine if it is an affect or an effect. More importantly, you said you don't get it? Get what? from the sounds of things it sounded like you might be getting IT... a lot!..(.if you played your cards well.) I think you are just being humble and discrete. You can tell us...we won't tell anyone. Let loose! .............Have a great weekend all! :-)
B Roll,
I wish we could hear your voice so we could judge (or swoon) for ourselves! LOL (I also wish I could word this so you would know my teasing is playful, not negative!)
DDAY - Oh, and yeah, you're correct - it WAS Sundance.
Dday - I saw 176 GD shows between 1973 and 1995. I THINK I "get" them. :D
DDay,
Also, I've never been able to have a satisfactory conversation with Al, though I've spoken with him many times. (Maybe I just don't mesh with his pedantic style.)
DDay
I don't find my voice very extraordinary, but have received comments about it for years and years. Even when I've heard recordings of my voice it just sounds like a nice kind of deep voice, so I don't get it. But it apparently has some kind of affect on some women. I don't get it. But sometimes I do enjoy hearing myself sing. I've even had several women I dated put their friends on the phone to hear my voice. But I really don't get it. Really, I don't. It isn't even super deep. I'm no Barry White. This isn't the proper forum for me to tell you what several women have told me about the affect my voice had on them.
DDay,
If I have misunderstood Al, I would be thrilled. I am going on what I've heard from him, both when he used to speak at Wellstone rallies and fundraisers, what his positions were in the U.S. Senate debates (especially at the DFL Progressive weekend event before the primary), and his own declaration that he was a supporter of the DLC. (And I also listened to him from the very first minute Air America was on the air.) Also, Al's humor feels misogynistic at times (whether he intends that or not.)
mstaggerlee,
I believe Al's show was shown on the Sundance Channel. Since we are name dropping a little today...I used to live in Marin county during the late seventies and had numerous encounters with various member of the Dead including Jerry who was a great guy. Sometimes when he played local clubs he would come off the stage and drink beers with the audience between sets. Other times i would run into Bob Weir and Phil Lesh at private parties up in the "hills". You had to attend a live concert of the Dead to really appreciate them fully. Al Franken is a good friend of Phil and Bob. They were on his show one time also.
I do remember that, back in his AAR days, Al Franken had good things to say about Amy Klobuchar - that may have been more about the opposition candidate, though.
Re - Music ... One of the main reasons I started listening to AAR was that I saw one of Franken's shows on TV (for a while, parts of his AAR show were carried at 11 PM on some cable channel or other - IFC maybe??), and noted that he played mostly Grateful Dead as his beds. I'm a big fan of the GD, Dylan, Allmans, and any band that likes to hit the stage without a setlist and JAM! Live, improvisational music is where it's at for me - These days I'm listening to bands like Umphrey's McGee, moe., Gov't Mule and Michael Franti & Spearhead. When I'm not listening to progressive political radio, I'm on Sirius's Jam On or their GD channel. :)
Quark,
I had an uncle and a cousin named Don. My real name is Leon Redbone.
B Roll, your voice always sound deeper within your own cranium. but i find your writing kinda sexy. :-)
Quark,
Re: Amy more progressive than Al? You are sniffing the nitrous aren't you? I guarantee that Franken will amass one of the most progressive voting records in the Senate over time. Amy is a different kettle of fish.
DDay,
I guess this means that your name isn't "Don" (the name the caller I heard gave himself.) LOL
B Roll,
Do you play in a band? I've dated several musicians and one nationally known singer even wrote a song to me. I don't know much of Bob Marley's music, but do like Dylan, among others (including Tom Waites, Leon Redbone, etc., particularly for their humor, tho low voices ARE sexy...)
Quark,
Ringing in your ears? Maybe I should adopt the handle: tinnitus? I kinda like it. i reminds me of the nom de plumes our fore fathers often used. You know...Cincinatus or Publicus....why not tinitus? Did you know that tinitus can be a common symptom of nitrous oxide, (laughing gas), abuse? LOL
FYI...Re: calling in on the radio....
I have been heard several times on our local Air America shows in Mpls. and a few times nationally on Ed Shultz's show in the past. I have never spoken on Thom's show or even tried to. I hope this news helps everyone sigh in relief. Reading my polemics is a public option which I'm supportive of. BUT! hearing my decidedly unsexy voice would be an imposition on good manners and comity. :-)
DDay,
For many reasons, I had hopes for a more progressive senator in Amy Klobuchar. I think she may be a bit more progressive than Al Franken, but I have felt let down, That said, I agree with you --- Amy is a thousand times better than the alternative. I contact her office often and keep hoping I can push her more to the left...
B Roll,
I tried to call the show yesterday to talk about the Medicare reimbursement issue. I, too, got tired of holding and decided to put a small post on the blog, instead.
(I hardly ever call, either, tho I frequently used to call The Stephanie Miller Show. Now I'm busy during that time. In fact, the only talk show to which I listen anymore is Thom's show --- I used to listen to Miller, Rhodes, Hartmann, Malloy, etc. I forced myself to go "cold turkey" to get my time back.)
I'll listen for a congested or low, sexy voice just in case you ever do decide to call and get through.
Quark
Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.
I love a variety of kinds of music and resent the fact that I have to spend so much time on politics which I hate. As a matter of fact, a few months ago I had it up to here with your fave talker and thought about changing morning listening to my local Pacifica station's music programming, which falls into that world music category.
World music like other genres has things that I like and things that I don't. Due to the need to keep with the social and political chaos of our times, I haven't heard enough world music or any kind of music in a long time.
My secret dream would be to be the lead singer for a band that covers the music of Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. How I would love to perform "Desolation Row" at Carnegie Hall.
Quark,
I listened closely to both of Sen Amy Klobuchar's appearances on MSNBC in the last 24 hrs. She only briefly mentioned reimbursement rates and indicated that they could be adjusted easily. Her two main messages were A: Everyone should emulate how we deliver health care in Minnesota, (Mayo Model), because of the savings, (30 billion over 5 yrs. after correcting reimbursement rates according to her), and B: Medicare should not be expanded because it needs saving first. While she acknowledged that the "middlemen" use up dollars that should be used for treatment, she doesn't go further than suggest more choices; i.e. through presumably, private insurance.
Senator Klobuchar has been allowed to be a little bit for a public option without really explaining the parameters of her support. She clearly is no champion of single payer. She has found a way to be seen as a player and promote her state while remaining out of the fray at the same time. It is a neat trick politically, and a safe one too. The only problem for me is that it is a tepid response to history in a time of great moment. After all, this great health care reform debate is about how this country should deal with the structure of a wholesale delivery system for health care. Sen. Klobuchar is talking more about retail delivery modifications. If you don't want to answer a question... change the question.
Sen. Klobuchar was an early supporter of then Barack Obama the candidate. He may have borrowed the phrase: "the fierce urgency of now" but Amy somehow knew that her cautious style was reflected in him, (Obama), regardless of slogans. Those more impatient for change, like myself, can only wait and hope for greater urgency in the future. Meanwhile we must remember how much worse things could be under their respective counterparts. Under Mark Kennedy and John Mc Cain, instead of debating whether or not to keep private health insurance companies, Social Security or Medicare's existence would likely be threatened.
@B Roll - Whoops - forgot to include this -
SCREW Joe LIE-berman!!!!!