Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival

I had the best trip/vacation just a week ago to Gettysburg, PA. Toured the Gettysburg Battlefield and the museum and learned a ton about the famous Civil War battle, but also had a great musical experience at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival at Granite Hill. Saw performances from Mountain Heart, Blue Highway, The Seldom Scene, Infamous Stringdusters, Dehlia Low, Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, and Alison Kraus and Union Station, among many other great performers.

My dad recently purchased and has started playing/practicing w/the mandolin and I toyed w/it, as well, and have decided I could actually play a string instrument. Debating b/t the mando and the guitar. Leaning twd acoustic guitar. Opening my mind to all the possibilities.

Crystal Bowersox - An American Idol for the ages

How did a blonde haired, dreadlocked cross between Jewel and Allison Kraus sneak into the American Idol competition?

I mean, how did a talent like hers go unsigned to a major record label before her audition on the show?

Granted, there are other talented performers on the show like Lee DeWise, Tim Urban and "Big Mike" Lynch, but Crystal Bowersox is in a class all her own.

I'm not a music producer, manager or critic, but I will tell you what my own ears hear. This girl is something special.

And though she may be among the best in the nation, I will tell you there are countless local and regional bands that will knock your socks off with more talent, charisma, live performance ability and chutzpah than 95% of the signed, recorded and played artists out there.

Crystal Bowersox is American music. She is soulful, genuine, edgy, herself, bluesey and even bluegrassy. She is that rare talent that makes your hair stand on end and your eyes go moist when you hear her voice.

Is the Tea Party Destined to Inspire That Which it Most Fears: A more European American Political System?

A few days ago, I read the April 16, 2010, USA Today article covering the Tea Party's 2010 Tax Day protests in DC (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-04-15-tea-party_N.htm), and I cannot comprehend the fervor based on factless misinformation propagated by this group.

I personally received the largest tax return I've ever gotten this year, as I'm sure many Tea Partiers also did, and I'm told 98% of Americans actually paid less taxes this year than last. Also, there are more tax credits and deductions for small business, middle-class citizens, and home and car buyers than I can remember.

I am all for the reemergence of the eroding Middle Class, reforming an antiquated Federal Income Tax first established in the 19th Century to support the war cause and since expanded with nearly every conflict, and SEVERELY lessening the power and influence of corporate lobbyists in DC.

However, the Tea Party seems, to me, to be a hoodwinked digital militia based on vitriol and coded language fueled by FOXy sound bite propaganda and fear-mongering rhetoric with a baseless agenda.

Do the TPs have a plan? Have they proposed a bill or a solution? Do they have a firm grasp on the Constitution which is also, quite possibly, a bit outdated? Do they care that Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave? And where were they from 2001-2008?

All that said, I'm not sure the Tea Partiers come without some benefit to American politics. The greatest contribution to the American politcal system I envision coming from the sanguinary voice of the TP's/Tea Baggers, is the inevitable emergence of other non-Dem/non-GOP/non-centrist groups, and hopefully parties, to extend the political discussion beyond the dominant two-party system traditionally, but now less so, battling from just over either side of middle.

Then, the Tea Partiers may find they have sparked the creation of that which they fear the most: a more European style of American governance.

Lefty

I just wanted to espouse on Lefty, aka, Phil Mickelson's triumphant victory at Augusta on Sunday. It was amazing...not really espousing, but just wanted to put it on the record. What an amazing victory, and Phil becomes our generation's Arnie.

Great Day on the Golf Course

I shot an 86 today and I feel the 70s in my near future!

The War Was In Color - Carbon Leaf, lyrics

I've pasted links to the song, lyrics (which I've copied below) and comments below. I saw Carbon Leaf tonight in Charlotte and they performed this song, which is one of my favorites, and I completely lost myself. There are about 3 songs I hear in church that were played at funerals that choke me up everytime, and there's this song, which reminds me of my grandfather and the atrocities of war, and one by Dave Matthews, "The Maker," which reminds me of my grandmother, that get me every time. YOu owe it to yourself to listen to the song and read the lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P7umAnAcvE

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-War-Was-In-Color-lyrics-Carbon-Leaf/E57E2080CAB5947F482570DD001DFB5E

I see you've found a box of my things -
Infantries, tanks and smoldering airplane wings.
These old pictures are cool. Tell me some stories
Was it like the old war movies?
Sit down son. Let me fill you in

Where to begin? Let's start with the end
This black and white photo don't capture the skin
From the flash of a gun to a soldier who's done
Trust me grandson
The war was in color

From shipyard to sea, From factory to sky
From rivet to rifle, from boot camp to battle cry
I wore the mask up high on a daylight run
That held my face in its clammy hand
Crawled over coconut logs and corpses in the coral sand

Where to begin? Let's start with the end
This black and white photo don't capture the skin
From the shock of a shell or the memory of smell
If red is for Hell
The war was in color

I held the canvas bag over the railing
The dead released, with the ship still sailing,
Out of our hands and into the swallowing sea
I felt the crossfire stitching up soldiers
Into a blanket of dead, and as the night grows colder
In a window back home, a Blue Star is traded for Gold.

Where to begin? Let's start with the end
This black and white photo don't capture the skin
When metal is churned. And bodies are burned
Victory earned
The War was in color

Now I lay in my grave at age 21
Long before you were born
Before I bore a son
What good did it do?
Well hopefully for you
A world without war
A life full of color

Where to begin? Let's start with the end
This black and white photo never captured my skin
Once it was torn from an enemy thorn
Straight through the core
The war was in color

Bobcats Continue Winning Ways In Epic Comeback Vs. Thunder on Jordan's First Day As Owner

Okay, so this isn't gonna be a full fledged article, but I just wanna say, "How about them Bobcats!" The team was down by 19 to a streaking OKC team and potential league MVP candidate, Kevin Durant, and they came back to win by 8 tonight going away. This team is for real, this team has heart and they play hard. They are a team that I'm proud to be a fan of and if they continue playing this way, I would not be surprised to see them not only make the Playoffs for the first time, but to advance. The only question is whether they can win on the road. They are great at home and improving away from Time Warner Cable Arena, but their overall win/loss record is much much better in Charlotte than when they play out of town.
This team has done as much as or more than any other team to improve through fortuitous trades thoughout the season and they are peaking at the right time. They've also been playing particularly well since Michael Jordan announced this intended purchase of the team (approved and ratified today) and it seems his presence on the bench, alongside players who grew up watching and idolizing the best to ever play the game, has helped the team's performance. This is a defensive minded team, this is a gritty team and this is a very very athletic team.
The Charlotte Bobcats have finally arrived on the NBA scene and, hopefully, they are here to stay.