Gidget Gone-zo

On the same day, we say goodbye to Hunter S. Thompson and Gidget.

Yep, just two peas in this crazy ol' pod we call life.

No More Mavis

As it turns out, there's a band in town called Mavis Drive. It's a street out in Etobicoke. I'd heard of Mavis Road, but not Mavis Drive. They've been around longer than us, have a CD out and a web page and everything. They're "Sabbath-style hard rock". So it's back to the name game for us.

I think we may end up going back to The Braveyard Whips. It's original, and it fits the way we sound. Although tonight at rehearsal we all seemed to like The Goers as a name as well. I suggested we could make t-shirts that say "I'm a Goer" on them. But I'm kind of partial toward The Braveyard Whips myself.

I also have to go back to the drawing board on the CD art I created for our demos we recorded at Bertie's. I burned CDs to give to each band member, but I left the drummer's name out of the credits. Oops, sorry Gerry.

So...

I wasn't sure how I'd start back into blogging after the last entry. Jumping right back into some mundane entry about work or the band or something just didn't seem right. "Sad about Mike, but moving right along, this is what happened to me on the subway today..."

Uh-huh.

But, knowing how Mike loved to deconstruct awards shows, let's dedicate this entry in Mike's honour: The Good, The Bad and The Grammys.

Let's start at the beginning: The opening.
Well, I suppose it wasn't as lame as some from years past, but that's about the best I can't say abou it. Does anyone else want to strangle the singer from Maroon 5? The guy just bugs me.
Gwen Stefani. Please go away. This woman cannot sing without sounding like she's sitting on a washing machine on agitate.

One thing about the Grammys is that when people do perform live, you really get see the wheat parting ways from the chaff. To wit:

- Gretchen Wilson: The Nashville marketing gloss is stripped away to reveal a glorified bar singer. Course these days in the music biz, as in the entertainment biz in general, it doesn't matter if you're flat; that can be fixed.

- Tim McGraw: Visually: beefcake. Musically: deflated souffle. Or as some say... all hat, no cattle.

Speaking of wheat and chaff, the Janis Joplin tribute was a prime example. Joss Stone is supposedly the new soul diva? She's got the style, but sorry honey, you ain't got the soul. I'm not even that big a fan of Melissa Etheridge, but at least she has the balls to be able to sing Joplin as it should be sung (not to mention to show up bald, after undergoing breast cancer treatments). Maybe not the Janis heiress, but at least her voice has the power to get her in the ball park. Joss Stone just doesn't have the... stones, to sing that stuff.

Loved the Loretta and Jack show. That was hilarious. One of the night's best moments for entertainment value and for seeing a real musical treasure get her due.

Kanye West. Get over yourself. Tool.

Queen Latifah: Nice job hosting. Very nice job singing that jazz song.

U2. Great performance. Deserved wins. Are there any real rock bands anymore?

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. Big hyped duet. Big yawn. Where's the wardrobe malfunction when you need one?

Alicia Keys: I liked her performances. She poured a lot of soul into her singing. She was spending some stuff there. The duet with Jamie Foxx wasn't quite as great as it should have been, mostly because it shouldn't have included Jamie Foxx.

Ray Charles. Nice to see a legend get his due (especially at the expense of a tool like Kanye West), but it was all a bit predictable and safe.

The big "We Are The World Across The Universe" ensemble: A Simpsons episode comes to life!

See you next year!

Mike Wolf

I was out all evening, and arrived home to the sad news that fellow blogger, regular visitor here, and long-time online friend Mike Wolf passed away last night.

I don't even know where to pack this away emotionally -- other than in the general area of shock and sadness and disbelief -- given that I never met Mike in the flesh. But I've "known" him for about 10 years, going back to the days of the Elvis Costello email list, which I was quite active in back in the day, along with other regular visitors here, Dean and Vernam (Tom). Was in touch with Mike more often in recent years since we both started blogging. I read his blog almost every day.

He had extended a standing invitation to me to come visit and stay with him in Stamford, and hang out in NYC. Wish I had taken him up on it.

I don't know what else to say. We'll miss you Mike.