My Dad has often said, “Any event that brings men closer to God, or men closer to men, is a religious event.” The best concerts I’ve attended have done that — made me feel more full of life, and brought me closer to others — and Springsteen’s are among those. This idea was one of the reasons I named the band “St. Joe’s Choir.” Music, and concerts in particular, are religious events — a time to gather to celebrate what is right and condemn what is wrong, and to share the experience of life on the planet.
A few weeks ago, I headed out on the road with a few friends (hey, Nathan, Kitty, Delia!) to catch Tom Waits in Houston and Dallas, because … well, because Tom Waits is one of the great musical artists of our time, and anybody who says different is LYING TO YOU.
I’d been looking for a pirated copy of the shows to pop up in the usual places, but, apparently, the pirates are either lazy or have shit for taste or, I suspect, both.
In the spirit of sharing, I would like to point out that there are any number of ways to convert a streaming audio signal into an mp3, including Audio Hijack Pro, if you’re Mac-friendly.
Update: Mel reasonably points out that you can just download the mp3 straight from NPR right here.
I’ve been flipping around on the ‘genre’ list — ‘ale liwon’ is a genre? exorcism music? thank God for drinking songs… — but you can also search for country, culture group (because a Navajo party don’t stop, yo!), instrument, label, language, and year.
Tons of stuff, most of it fascinating in one way or another, and clips of everything.
About 12 weeks ago — for a few reasons (see below) — Mel and I started a running program.
On Saturday, Mel and I ran the Keep Austin Weird 5K. I’d run 3 miles getting ready for it, so I had an idea of what that would be like. What I hadn’t done before was run in 98 degree heat next to the devil.
