Roky Erickson is a music legend from Texas you have probably never heard of.  He was born 62 years ago today (assuming I get this posted by Midnight Eastern time on July 15.

He influenced 60’s psychedelia with his band the 13^th Floor Elevators.

He… Read full post »

Many of my posts and comments convey confidence and a degree of certainty in my political philosophy.  However, I enjoy art and ideas that embrace ambiguity and uncertainty.  With that in mind, I share Laibach’s “cover” of the US national anthem from their 2006 albu/… Read full post »

I am not a big reader of fiction and I don’t keep up with who the current fiction writers are.  An exception is that I have read every novel that Iain Pears has written.  It all started with An Instance of the Fingerpost.

Fingerpost is a historical mystery novel/… Read full post »

Last week, I wrote about the song “(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone” making a comment at one point that it seemed kind of unusual that a rock song was written in 1966 warning of the perils of women using men to advance their careers.  As I started thinking about what to… Read full post »

In 1966, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote a song called “(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone.”  It was originally recorded by Paul Revere and the Raiders.  But, it was subsequently recorded and popularized by The Monkees reaching #20 on the US charts.

&nbs… Read full post »

Q: What album that you’ve probably never heard of was voted “Top Rock Album of All Time” by critics at Melody Maker?

A: Secret Treaties by Blue Oyster Cult, released in April 1974… and deserving of a 35^th anniversary post.*

Secret Treaties was BOC's third… Read full post »

The Battle of San Jacinto set in motion a series of events that led to the United States acquiring the territory that became the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, and Nevada… plus pieces of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  It can be argued that the Un/… Read full post »

I have seen a number of comments on OS about how the Tea Party protesters do not understand that they are voting and protesting against their own interests.  A specific example would be asserting that protesting taxes will only benefit the rich and that many of these people do not pay much… Read full post »

I work in downtown Houston so I took off a little early and walked over to the Tea Party at Jones Plaza.  I could only stay an hour because I had a dinner engagement but the time I was there was entertaining.

Here are a few pictures I took with my cell phone… Read full post »

Today, we will go on a minor journey as I had never heard of today’s band until last week.

The Journey Begins

Last Wednesday, I had posted about The Soundtrack of Our Lives (TSOOL) with my main critique being that they seem to lack some emotional depth necessary/… Read full post »

Today brings a song from an album only released in the US on CD a couple of weeks ago.  Yes, I still like having an actual physical CD.  Stellaa, this is why I didn't respond to your request for an I-Tunes playlist.  I don't use I-Tunes.  Sorry.

TSOOL 

 … Read full post »

I just finished watching 60 Minutes with its profile and interview of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.  He confirmed what we all knew: the Fed is printing money to provide capital to at risk financial institutions.

_{(Picture from Federal Reserve web site)}

It is not your ol… Read full post »

I was a casual participant in Hurricane Ike by virtue of riding the storm out in my house and then living a week without electricity.  I posted about the events at the time (here, here, here) and decided to post tonight by just doing a search in the local newspaper, the… Read full post »

Rob St Amant had a post where he challenged people to write the first sentence of a novel about Open Salon.  I suggested this one: "Kerry arrives at work and starts to read the day's posts. Tired of his life, he secretly wishes for a spam attack."

Some recent events… Read full post »

Years of Refusal is Morrissey’s third CD since his “comeback” in 2004.  Sorry for the length of this, a lot of ideas got prompted by this album.

Does Morrissey Matter? 

Morrissey is one of those figures in pop music where the act of him making music is seeming… Read full post »

People like to predict the future by analogy to the past.  Because of the “worst economic crisis since the Great Depression” (debatable) and the election of a seemingly left wing Democrat (who really knows what he believes?), we get exposed to the “Obama a/… Read full post »

 "It's a cluster..."

As previously written (Part 1), I came through Hurricane Ike safe but now was without power or water.  As we were supposed to do, I had 3 to 4 days worth of supplies.  These fish caught up in the storm surge were not so lucky:

  … Read full post »

I started writing my version of Hurricane Ike on Friday morning, September 12 as Ike was closing in on the Texas coast (see post).  Today’s post will cover a few points before Friday and then focus on the night of the storm.

Part 1…Dr. Neil Frank or: How I Learned/… Read full post »

My family and friends came through Ike fine.  I'm on dial-up on a laptop with no backup battery sitting in the dark (literal, save the metaphorical jokes for when I'm back on broadband).

I hope services will be back soon.  I've never liked roughing it although I find myself being… Read full post »