Happy Obligatory Greeting Card Day. #valentines #howromantic
Author - Paul Schatzkin
Meanwhile, in other news… The Europeans are beginning to take a dim view of US control of the Interwebs…
WSJ: EU Body Seeks to Reduce U.S. Influence Over Internet’s Structure
The European Union’s executive body is raising pressure to reduce U.S. influence on the Internet’s infrastructure, after revelations of widespread U.S. surveillance activities have caused what it calls a “loss of confidence” in the global network’s current makeup.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will propose the adoption of “concrete and actionable steps” to globalize essential Web functions–like the assignment of so-called top-level domain names–that are still contractually linked to the U.S. government, according to a draft policy paper seen by The Wall Street Journal.
I don’t know that I trust the EU’s Communications Command and Control structures any more than I like the U.S.’s… this is probably an internecine turf war: The EU doesn’t like the US/NSA monitoring our communications only because it presents a challenge to the EU’s ability to do precisely the same thing.
I am reminded (as I am often) of an observation that somebody made back in the heyday of Napster: “The labels don’t like Napster ripping off the artists because it interferes with the labels’ ability to rip off the artists…” Or something to that effect.
I think the same principal probably applies here.
Mark the date: Thursday, February 27, 6-8PM
That’s the date of the opening reception for the “Natural Reflections” show at
Chromatics 2nd Floor Gallery
625 Fogg St.
Nashville, TN 37203
I’m going to have not one but TWO of my photos in this show, which will be open until late in June.
Like everybody else in the country, I’m thinking this morning about The Beatles.
Washington Coliseum – Feb 11, 1964
I’m posting because I want to pass along a piece I heard on NPR’s Weekend Edition/Saturday about the first live concert The Beatles performed after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on Feb 9, 1964 – fifty years ago today.
Their first concert was two days later in Washington DC.
The centerpiece of this NPR report is an interview with Mike Mitchell, at the time an 18-year-old photographer who somehow landed the plum gig of shooting this Beatles first U.S. concert. The report revisits the venue, now a derelict building used mostly for a parking lot.
What struck me was the part where Scott Simon asks, “So what did they look like close up?”
And Mike Mitchell answers,
I’ve said before that they kind of were an alien species to us… At that point they looked incredibly fresh, you know, like a fresh iteration of the human race. Read More
…This time with a Spotify player for the new CD (scroll down)
Suzy Boggus and Company
We had another one of those “Only In Nashville” kind of nights last night when Suzy Bogguss hosted an outstanding lineup the 3rd and Lindsley Bar & Grill.
Suzy is one of the few artists (and in this case, I use that overused term consciously and deliberately) who achieved some stardom during the “Country Music Integrity Scare” of the 1990s. A lot of the performers who achieved some profile during that period have since disappeared down the backside of the arc of stardom, but Suzy Bogguss keeps turning out great new recordings and remains an absolutely engaging and entertianing performer. I’ve been a fan all along and I’m pleased to see she’s still turning out great music.
Last night at 3rd & Lindsley she opened her own show, joined on stage by Matraca Berg and Gretchen Peters for the ensemble they call “Wine, Women and Song” – offering some of the sweetest three part harmonies since “The Trio” with Emmy, Linda, and Dolly.
That was followed by the real reason for the night, the official release of Lucky, Suzi’s new collection of Merle Haggard songs. For this set she was joined by some of the finest players on the planet: Charlie Chadwick on bass, Chris Scruggs on all sorts of things, Guthrie Trapp on electric guitar, Pat Bergeson on guitars and harmonica, and a drummer, whose name I will insert into this space when somebody reminds me who that was …
Update (Feb 12 ’04): Good News!
Lucky was released yesterday and is already available on Spotify. So have yourself a listen:
P.S. If you see an entry where I have mispelled Suzy’s last name… I know now that there are two “S”s at the end of “Bogguss.” I won’t be making that mistake again…
@SuzyBoggus “Hey Cinderella” #onlyinnashville #realmusic #sweetharmonies
Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters, Suzy Boggus sharing the stage #onlyinnashville #sweetharmonies
…The music industry is a $100-billion 21st Century business trapped in a $7-billion 20th Century business model:
That’s according to Marc Geiger, head of William Morris / Endeavor (aka Ari Gold‘s super-agency):
“The recorded music industry can grow to a $100 billion-plus business within the next 15 years – but only if it abandons pushing music ownership and fully embraces the streaming subscription model, said Marc Geiger, WME’s global head of music, during a powerful, deliberately provocative keynote speech on day two of Midem.
“If you still think [the future] is about owning files I will talk to you again in 24 months and you will deny that you ever said it to me,” Geiger stated during a slick 25-minute presentation, which was entitled “20 Years of Pain. No More Fooling Around: The Definitive Future of the Music Business.”
I heard several years ago that the average music “consumer” purchases roughly $40/year of recorded music. So they’re spending $40 year – less than $3.50/mo – to “purchase” 3 to 4 CDs, maybe 30 to 50 tracks to horde in their own personal private music “library.”
So tell them instead that for a measly $10/mo (your mileage may vary) they can have the entire history of recorded music on a gizmo in their pocket and see what happens.
You know the old expression: “do the math.”
….when you laugh at this video:
It comes with the header “A Woman goes back to work after 30 years…” and it’s only a few seconds long, but you’ll get the joke if you learned how to type on a real typewriter like I did. In junior high school. In the 1960s.
And I swear, of all the things they tried to teach me in school, typing is the one skill I use the most to this day…
Don’t blink:
So the Interwebs are all-a-flutter….
RHCP @ SB LXVIII: plugs and cables optional
..because the Red Hot Chili Peppers didn’t bother to plug in their guitars when they busted up Bruno Mars half-time show with their totally self-serving and incongruous shriek-rap whateverthefuck that was – which obvious fact the band has ‘fessed up to on their website.
I could frankly care less whether the RHCP played to a track or not. The whole thing is a spectacle, light-years detached from anything of serious musical consequence, so who really cares how it’s staged? If playing to track in a situation like that raises the likelihood that the spectacle will come off without a hitch, fine, whatever.
What surprises me to learn is that neither the Flaming Peppers nor the featured performer whose otherwise enjoyable act they disrupted – that would be Bruno Mars – were paid for their performance. Read More