It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

Posted on December 8 2004 by Mickey
    Today marks the twentieth anniversary of my first U2 show.  Good God, I’m old. Way way back in the mists of time, a small group of friends drove from CMU to the once and soon-to-be beautiful Fox Theater (not yet fully renovated at the time, I mean) in Detroit. U2’s appearance was part of the first leg of their Unforgettable Fire tour. The Waterboys opened the show. U2’s crowd was so enthusiastic that their constant jumping and hopping had the balcony visibly bouncing, threatening to send it balcony crashing down.
    Carter Alan, in his book Outside It’s America (which unfortunately I can’t find now or else I’d quote directly from it), talks about how the band were so intimidated by the rowdy crowd that they feared for their safety and eschewed the customary practice of going out and meeting the fans after the show. What Mr Alan does not add is that the band did go out and meet fans after the show.  And I’ve got the autographs to prove it.
    Adam appeared first, showing up on the sidewalk outside the venue, with his back against an old station wagon parked at the curb. He was wearing a suit jacket and holding a small cordial of wine. Someone asked him where The Edge was at, and with a dramatic pause he replied drolly “The Edge…is in his underpants.”
    After The Edge showed up, he was swamped by fans. I waited my chance for an autograph, listening to some other kid enthuse about The Edge’s unique guitar style. Someone else called out to ask if he was wearing any underwear. Even though he must have had no idea what prompted such a question being asked, The Edge replied calmly “I am, but I’m not prepared to prove it.”
    I’ll keep my Bono story to myself.  Larry dashed straight onto the bus, but we still managed to get some stuff signed by passing it on to the bus driver.
    Here are a couple keepsakes from that night…
    Here are a few of my surviving photographs Unfortunately I took too many concert photos and ran out of film before the end of the show, so I have no photographs from when we met the band. You’ll have to excuse the poor framing; I was holding the camera over my head.

    Here’s some bonus audio of Bono scolding us. (No, I did not record it. I didn’t learn about audience taping till the next tour.)
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I Wish to Complain About the Networks’ Lack of Profanity

Posted on December 7 2004 by Mickey
    Slashdot once again gives me fodder for today’s blog entry. According to an article at Mediaweek.com, the FCC was receiving approximately 350 complaints a year in 2000 and 2001, up to 14,000 in 2002, and rising as high as 240,000 last year. “According to a new FCC estimate obtained by Mediaweek,” reads the article, “nearly all indecency complaints in 2003 — 99.8 percent — were filed by the Parents Television Council, an activist group.”
    The PTC scours the airwaves (so you don’t have to) ears pricked for any troublesome act or statement. Through E-mail Alerts, they will contact subscribers, in titillating vivid language, and instruct them what they should be complaining about. Take for example this alert describing this cockup on September’s Big Brother 5 broadcast on CBS. “Drew says: ‘Oh, [bleeped “shit”;], [bleeped “shit”;].’ Michael passes Drew and goes into the kitchen. He puts his hands near his face and whispers aloud (he is miked): ‘Oh fuck’ [not bleeped].”
    Oh great.  Now they made me say “fuck” on my website. Shit! I wish there was someone to whom I could complain to keep that vile language off my computer.
    But I digress. The PTC has gotten pretty good at spamming the FCC, but not everyone is as fooled as chairman Michael Powell. When Fox recently challenged a complaint, “the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau said it could find only 90 complaints from 23 individuals”. A Fox spokesman goes even further: “All but four of the complaints were identical–and only one complainant professed even to have watched the program.”
    This is ridiculous as well was being unacceptable. Therefore, I have signed up to receive their E-mail Alerts, and every time they tell me to parrot one of their complaints to the FCC I will use their webpage form to do exactly the opposite. This is the only way to keep Up With People from returning to our Super Bowl halftime shows.
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Hardee’s Wants to Kill You

Posted on December 4 2004 by Mickey
    …but what a way to go. A couple weeks ago Hardee’s introduced the new Monster Thickburger, named not for the two ⅓-pound burgers but for the amount of plaque build-up in your aorta. The mere sight of it has already increased my cholesterol. Good thing for me there are so few Hardee’s around, but I’d be tempted to try a few of these.

The New Monster Thickburger
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Image of the Week

Posted on December 3 2004 by Mickey
    I got this from Astronomy.com’s “Astronomy Photo of the Day.” It was suggested by Brian, who is visiting our workplace from the West Coast. (Click on the image for the full-size version.)

Great Lakes’ “Lake Effect”
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How I Spent My Thanksgiving Vacation

Posted on November 30 2004 by Mickey
Getting hooked on Spaced
as well as joining the Shaun Squad.
Watching the end of The Office,
finding out Martin Freeman has his own website,
wishing Lucy Davis had one too (although her dad does),
and learning more about Wernham Hogg.
Waiting for word I can use my new U2 membership card
and rocking to George W Bush singing “Sunday Bloody Sunday”.
Learning more about The John Cleese
and wishing Eric Idle’s Spamalot website wasn’t so noisy — (and was BIGGER…at least in Firefox).
And finally, reading this reprint of Lynne Cheney’s lesbian romance.
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Happy Holiday Eating Season

Posted on November 26 2004 by Mickey

’Tis the season to pour gravy
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Headlines

Posted on November 18 2004 by Mickey
      Apparently Bono has some good news for me. According to the new issue of Spin magazine, when the tour starts next year U2 will make their concerts available for download on Apple’s iTunes Music Store. He is quoted as saying “We will do a commercial with Apple for our album, and no money will change hands, which is important, because we have been offered boatloads of money from many other people. But we will make an Apple commercial that’s as good as any video. And next year, you will be able to go to a U2 show and download the concert onto your iPod. We’re going to make a digital box set, where you can get every U2 album and every U2 B-side and every U2 lyric, all at once. We want to do this because we like their company.“ This is already music to my ears.
    The FCC might be done dealing with Bono but they’ve got their hands full in with ABC’s Monday Night Football. The AP reports they have been receiving complaints about a racy pre-game intro involving Desperate Housewives star Nicolette Sheridan and Philadelphia Eagles star Terrell Owens. The NFL has gone on record as saying the skit was “inappropriate and unsuitable for our Monday Night Football audience” and ABC has already issued an apology. As a staunch proponent of Morgul Vale moral values, I am relieved the FCC is there to protect unsuspecting football viewers from the such an abhorrence as the sight of a half-naked woman. Ye gads! Furthermore, I am also grateful to hear that the NFL will soon be requiring cheerleaders to wear long robes so as to lead the crowd in prayer and old-time spirituals.
    Also in the news, Michigan’s Kmart plans to buy Sears for 11 billion dollars, “in a bold play to revive two of America’s best-known, but long-struggling, retail brands,” according to the AP. This of course means that at long last movie fans can finally “Shop Smart! Shop S-mart!”
Posted in Music, News, Tech, TV, U2 | Leave a comment

Counting Cheese

Posted on November 17 2004 by Mickey
    A new study suggests obesity is related to sleep deprivation. Which could certainly be true if you’re spending the nights eating.
    According to the AP article:
Those who got less than four hours of sleep a night were 73 percent more likely to be obese than those who got the recommended seven to nine hours of rest, scientists discovered. Those who averaged five hours of sleep had 50 percent greater risk, and those who got six hours had 23 percent more.
    […] It seems “somewhat counterintuitive” that sleeping more would prevent obesity because people burn fewer calories when they’re resting, [Columbia epidemiologist James] Gangwisch said. But they also eat when they’re awake, and the effect of chronic sleep deprivation on the body’s food-seeking circuitry is what specialists think may be making the difference in obesity risks.
    […] Sleep deprivation lowers leptin, a blood protein that suppresses appetite and seems to affect how the brain senses when the body has had enough food. Sleep deprivation also raises levels of grehlin, a substance that makes people want to eat.
    Sounds reasonable enough, but they lost me with those “leptin” and “grehlin” names. Those are from Narnia, aren’t they?
    Of course, pondering this (and trying to think for a capper for this entry) will keep me up too late…resulting, as shown, in my overeating tomorrow. But then again couldn’t I counteract that if I just eat something heavy then fall asleep after? To think…my nap after Thanksgiving dinner might be healthy!
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Musical Velvet

Posted on November 14 2004 by Mickey
      I got word today that one of my prayers has been answered. Or at least will be next month.
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Null & Voided

Posted on November 12 2004 by Mickey
    A moment of silence as we mark the passing of Winamp, one of the favorite programs I ever downloaded and one of my favorites to use. According to Betanews.com: “The last members of the original Winamp team have said goodbye to AOL and the door has all but shut on the Nullsoft era” now that AOL has split itself into four different divisions. “Only a few employees remain to prop up the once-ubiquitous digital audio player with minor updates, but no further improvements to Winamp are expected.
    “Winamp’s abandonment comes as no surprise to those close to the company who say the software has been on life support since the resignation of Nullsoft founder and Winamp creator Justin Frankel last January.”
    I always liked Winamp since it was a nice little program that did what it was supposed to do and didn’t (until more recently) try to take over my operating system like so many other programs try to do. It’s also one of the few Windows programs I miss now that I’m on OS X. It feels like the end of an era. (And, incidentally, my birthday on Tuesday marks my tenth anniversary online, back when I used Prodigy on my Packard Bell.)
    Diet Blog: Day Something-something. I’ve veered so far off my South Lyon diet that it’s tough to get back on track. I weighed myself this morning and came in at 206, which I guess isn’t too bad considering all the snacks and fast food I’ve allowed myself to have. Time to get back at it though.
    Here’s the SFG Site of the Week, if not for the next four years. Sorry Everybody.com is the site where despondent blue-staters can apologize for November 2 and beg forgiveness in advance for the travesty that will be the Bush second term. Not only is it touching to read all the outpourings of emotion, it’s also reassuring to see the overseas responses. Everybody’s talking about the site, and with good reason.
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