Add a message : Houserockers Guestbook : Search
There are now 3025 messages in our guestbook.
<<< 1 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 303 >>>
Viewing messages 2701 to 2710.
Keith Harrison
|  |
Hey Zeke --
Sorry for not checking in with a response on your Chicago music question earlier. We've been without Internet for a few days, as we've just moved last week (still in Shaler, natch, but a bigger house for these two cute little girls we've been blessed with).
Anyway, judging from my decade living there, the best music club in Chicago -- and the best music club I've ever been to, anywhere -- is FitzGerald's, in the near-western suburb of Berwyn. (It's easy to get to from downtown -- straight out I-290.)
FitzGerald's is a great roadhouse-style place that specializes in roots music. And this is not just for Zeke's friend but anyone who digs roots music and is looking for a great music-centric vacation: for four days around the Fourth of July weekend every year, FitzGerald's hosts an American Music Festival. They put up a second stage under a tent and have non-stop music from noon till 2 a.m. featuring all kinds of American music, from big band jazz through alternative country, soul, blues, roots rock and straight-ahead rock.
One of my fave Houserocker memories ever comes from FitzGerald's as well. One winter night Joe and the guys did a show there and really burned that place to the ground. You know the kind of show I'm talking about: not just the usual great show, but an un-freaking-believably great show. And as the whole thing wraps up, I'm literally careening around -- blissed-out, danced-out, sweating like crazy and drunk as a skunk. And I nearly plow into Bill FitzGerald, the exceptionally kind, laid-back and musically savvy owner of the club. And I half-scream at him, "Bill! You have GOT to get those guys to play at the American Music Fest." And in his unflappable style, he calmly says to me, "I was just thinking the same thing."
And so they did. And that was a fine show as well, and Joe himself marveled from the stage about FitzGerald's great American Music Festival.
Keith Harrison
Shaler
3 September 2005 - Shaler
|
|
Mark
|
|
Anyone hear the new Stones album? Go to Rolling Stones.com and you can hear all the new songs in their entirety. This one's gonna be a classic folks!
2 September 2005
|
|
Mark
|
All great points Andy, although I think Kerry would have been much more proactive in this situation. My bitch is this:
All I heard about Iraq is that Bush wanted to "make a pre-emptive" strike and not wait until the US was attacked (you know, that was back in the day when he was trying to scare the shit out of everyone so that we all would jump on his bandwagon). Well if you can be proactive about going over to bomb another country (as well as innocent citizens), can't our federal government be proactive in helping people that can't help themselves, especially when it's right here in our own backyard. Is the Dept of Homeland Security just out there to battle these nasty terrorists (both real and imagined), or do they have a responsibility to protect us in times of natural disasters? I mean, we elect these guys....they are there to serve US!!!! All reports indicated that this was going to be a bad one...However, even if there was uncertainty about that, why take a chance? THESE ARE HUMAN LIVES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! If there is ever a time to be over protective, wouldn't this be it? Yep, disappointment would be an understatement in describing how I feel.
2 September 2005 - Greensburg
|
|
Andy (Not the one from England)
| |
I need to vent, and reading all of this doesn't help.
1) The flooding of New Orleans was predicted by most of the experts I saw on tv last week, before the storm.
2) The Superdome idea was stupid...only to be outdone by the Convention Center idea.
3) The bus caravans should have been rolling out of New Orleans LAST Saturday and Sunday. People who had no way out should have been given an opportunity to get out anyway.
4) Local and state officials waited too long to cry for help, and the federal government waited too long to enforce the powers it has to take over...the troops and supplies should have been on the way on Monday night.
Can we blame Bush? Maybe, but there is a lot of blame to go around before it reaches him. Does it matter?
And in this man's OPINION, Kerry (or even Gore for that matter) would not have done any better, and sooner.
2 September 2005 - da Burgh
|
Mark
| |  |
|
Rich...glad to hear you are done on this topic. You know, I don't ever recall you posting about music, so I'll take your comments about my posting habits with a grain of salt. Anytime you wanna post about the music, I'd love to read your views.
2 September 2005 - Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
|
|
Terry
|
Bush may be well intentioned, but he's also uninformed, unprepared, overwhelmed, confused, and distracted by his unsuccessful policies in Iraq. He doesn't have the intellect to lead this nation at a time like this. Remaining on vacation until Wednesday, then touring the affected areas, putting Laura Bush out there too (please...), this is all a public relations stunt. Sure, Katrina was a double whammy: a monster hurricane followed by breached levees and flooding. The result is a crumbled infrastructure... no water, no electricity, few passable roadways, dangerous debris-filled floodwaters. A disaster of these proportions will never be under control in an hour, not even a day. But Senator John Kerry, unlike Bush, has brains, wherewithal, compassion and a sense urgency, and would have overseen a much better government response. We'd all be better off had he been elected, except for the oil companies, of course.
2 September 2005 - Squirrel Hill
|
|
Richard
|
|
Good facts, Mark. All true. Here’s a couple more. There was a disaster plan in effect. The plan was to move those that couldn’t evacuate to the Super Dome. If, as you stated in your facts there were people to blame for not leaving, then you can understand why that put an added burden on the Super Dome. That those people took food, water and shelter that was to be used by the very people that deserved to be helped. It filled the Super Dome to overflowing forcing people to sleep on freeway ramps. It increased the need for security. However, the security was too busy dealing with the looters that you also blame. Here’s a fact you failed to mention. Katrina was more devastating than anyone imagined. Buildings that withstood storms for 150 years are gone. Did anyone predict that type of destruction? If so I didn’t hear it. Granted, there isn’t the standing water in Mississippi that there is in New Orleans but their cleanup is already underway. Another fact, no one knew until the it was too late exactly where Katrina would hit making it difficult if not impossible to stage a plan from the national level. It was entirely up to the state and local governments to protect their residents. With those facts, most of which are yours, how is this Bush’s fault? Can you say with any certainty that the governors of the states in Katrina’s path were NOT contacted by Homeland Security to make sure that plans were in place? Once again I will say that Bush’s actions since Katrina are not what I want from the president. I’m sorry, but I can’t blame him for anything leading up to the disaster. I’ve thought a lot about this and don’t think it qualifies as knee jerk. I’m done talking about this. Like you said your political view “is what it is.” I would never ask you to change no matter what the facts are.
2 September 2005
|
|
ANDY
| |
|
The rest of us in this world are looking on with awe at the power of nature, the despair of the poor, the speed of chaos and anarchy and the complete lack of feeling shown by the most powerful man in the world. How does America continue to elect a succesion of "the world's stupidest dumb ass" for president ?
2 September 2005 - England
|
|
Mark
| | |
|
Richard...sorry if you don't like MY politics. It is what it is, not everyone will agree with me, and that's OK. But please don't try to tell me that there is no room for my views on this board. Just because you think my opinions "aren't thought out intelligently" doesn't mean you are correct. That is YOUR opinion. I happen to have very strong reasons for writing what I do, and just because YOU don't agree doesn't mean my thoughts aren't any less factual. I've said it before...the Democratic leadership in Louisiana is at fault. They knew this was coming, how could they not have a disaster plan? Fact. The looters that only made a horrible situation worse are at fault. Fact. The people that were told to get out and didn't are at fault. Fact. HOWEVER...some people simply didn't have the means...they didn't have anywhere to go, nor did they have the finances. This is where I am very critical of our President. Don't we have a Dept of Homeland Security? Well where in the hell were they???? We knew this could be major...to be "pre-emptive" (GW's words), shouldn't we have sent some people in to get those individuals outta there? We elect these people to help us, yet they are failing us. "Homeland Security" Richard. Think about it. If there was ever a situation that needed the help of this Department, I would think that the disaster in Lousiana qualfies. And I have no patience to see G Dubbs flying around Lousiana looking all concerned. He should have had his ass out of his vacation home and been doing his job. HOMELAND SECURITY, dammit! By the way, some would say, Rich, that you are the one with the knee jerk reactions.
2 September 2005 - Greensburg
|
|
Mama Lucci
|
Finally, some intelligent, well-written debating, from vastly differing viewpoints about this American Bablylon that is New Orleans. Whatever Happened To That Rebel healthy discourse, the kind that appeared around the last election ... yippee, it's fun to read the message board posts again.
2 September 2005 - DC
|
<<< 1 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 303 >>> |