William Russell for Congress?

His platform seemed to be I am not John Murtha. I think we (GOP) need a candidate with juice!

Tom Ceraso is interested in the seat? That is interesting. I will say this for Tom, he did check out Wilco due to my blog postings. So, he can't be all bad. Had he attended the Wilco show at St Vincent College, I might even had considered voting for him. Where were all you people when Wilco played at St. Vincent? What a lost opportunity for you all! By the way, Wilco's upcoming Pittsburgh show sold out super friggin' fast! Damn ticketmaster!

I wish Bill Scranton had won for governor so...

he could help me get some cool seats to see Wilco at The Scranton Cultural Center. I do have awesome seats for the Pittsburgh show, but you can never see Wilco too often.

The Black Crowes

are awesome live! Levon Helm opened. He had laryngitis. He couldn't sing. Disappointing, but The Crowes certainly made up for it.

I have to say...

I love the Thriller album. I hope Michael Jackson has found peace. It is always sad when someone dies before their time.

Took Lizzie to see Arlo Guthrie

She didn't like it at first, but she liked the end of the show when Arlo told the story how one person can make a difference. Arlo is really cool to see if you ever get a chance.

Want some good music?

Check out the list of essential songs as voted by listeners to WYEP (91.3 FM). I am sort of surprised the Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls is #1, but I do have the CD and Rhonda and I saw them at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia when that CD came out.

Here is the entire list:

http://wyep.org/music/913songs/

For Wilco, Jesus, Etc has to come before Heavy Metal Drummer. I love both songs, but one is more essential than the other.

Great news!

New Wilco CD coming this summer and maybe a tour! If you get a chance, see them live!!!!

Reasons to vote for Rhonda Laughlin for Greater Latrobe School Board

Do you think I can come up with a new reason to vote for Rhonda for School Board everyday until the election in November? We shall see.

Reason #1. She skipped the Damien Rice concert because she had a school board meeting. While this is a reason for me not to vote for her, it certainly qualifies as a reason for the rest of you to vote for her. An extreme example of dedication.

This is probably not only my favorite Damien Rice song, but may be my favorite song of all time.

Cool event for me!

Readers of this blog know that Rhonda and I are going to Chicago to see U2. Hopefully, Adam Lambert isn't opening for them. I just found out that the Chicago Half Marathon is the next day! I am so in! Rhonda is going to run the 5K. She is not quite as excited as I am at the prospects of the weekend.

American Idol

I thought Adam Lambert was terrible last night. He screams and looks like an older lady. To me, his version of One caused me great pain. It is apparent to me that the judges are biased beyond belief in favor of Adam. Personally, I wouldn't see him play live or buy any of his CDs. I don't think he is a "rock star". He reminds me of Liza Minelli.

Here is what a rock star looks like!

New Music

Good summer CD
Tonight : Franz Ferdinand

"Three Cool Cats"

I ran into Sen. Kim Ward and Debbie Irwin last night at Beatlemania Now at Greensburg's Palace Theatre. Their seats were right behind me. I had the whole family with me. Rhonda, Liz, Natalie and Olivia all enjoyed the show. It was nice seeing two former county GOP chairs and overall fun people. It was the first time I have seen Kim Ward since she was elected. She is the same friendly and fun loving person she always has been. Chuck Dominick (Latrobe mayoral candidate) was sitting right in front of me. As much as he must have wanted to get into this photo so he could present it as a present to his boss, Tom Balya, Debbie would never had allowed it.

Elizabeth sat in front of Sen. Ward. Liz still loves politics. Maybe some day she could intern in Kim's office. That would be sort of cool.

FYI, Three Cool Cats is a song off Beatles Anthology 1. It also applies in this case.

Just so you know, I am not losing my hair. Sort of looks like it. I ran out of the shampoo I like and the crap my kid had in the shower has made my hair stiff. With all the running, it just kind of stays back like that.

Ray LaMontagne at the Palace last night.

It was pretty good, but Ray is certainly an introvert. Check out Chuck Konkus on the drums. At least he reminded me of Chuck Konkus (Chuck's a famous republican). My new phone is exceptionally cool and my wife did not fall asleep during this show like she did at Son Volt.

Any readers take my advice...

and get Ray LaMontagne tickets at the Palace?

Went to the source last night...

My wife has been too busy to get online, so she hasn't seen the blog. She was unaware of the U2 tickets in Chicago and the poll. Anyway, the answer to the poll question is: No. She was not mad at all. Off to Chicago to see U2!!

Check out the new poll to the right.

I bought tickets to see U2 in Chicago. I didn't ask my wife. Who thinks she will be mad at me? Or is this a good test to see if she is really cool? It is U2 after all!

I was going to go to a Mike Reese fundraiser on 3/25 (honest), but I used the money on the U2 tickets. Just kidding! I know I promised to go to the first Reese fundraiser, but the timing of this one was really inconvenient. I will definitely attend one in the near future. My wife and I think Mike Reese is doing a very good job as state representative and would have attended the reception, but noon on thursdays is the worst possible time. Keep me on the list.

Beatlemania at the Palace in Greensburg

April 15. Internet pre-sale started today. Lots of good seats available.

Fleetwood Mac at Mellon Arena last night

Lindsay Buckingham held the band together last night with an incredible performance and outstanding work on the guitar. I don't think he has ever really gotten his due because he had to be in a band playing all those sappy Christine McVie songs (thank god she isn't in the band). Seems the writer from the Post-Gazette agrees with me.

Buckingham is a pure live wire, and people who have never seen Fleetwood Mac might not know that if he hadn't ended up in this co-ed pop band, his name might be thrown around with guitar heroes like Neil Young and Eric Clapton. Buckingham can rip in numerous ways, from the frantic acoustic fingerpicking on "Big Love" to the nitro shredding on "I'm Afraid," which, contrary to the image of the 50-something ballad-loving Fleetwood Mac fan, drew the biggest roar of the night. Post-Gazette 2/2/2009

My favorite parts of the night were Lindsay Buckingham's performance (I Go Insane, my complete favorite) and my wife looking particularly good(really good). My least favorite part was I think the security guard enjoyed frisking me way to much.

Here is the set list:

• "Monday Morning"
• "The Chain"
• "Dreams"
• "I Know I'm Not Wrong"
• "Gypsy"
• "Go Insane"
• "Rhiannon"
• "Second Hand News"
• "Tusk"
• "Sara"
• "Big Love"
• "Landslide"
• "Never Going Back Again"
• "Storms"
• "Say That You Love Me"
• "Gold Dust Woman"
• "Oh Well"
• "I'm Afraid"
• "Stand Back"
• "Go Your Own Way"
(encore)
• "World Turning"
• "Don't Stop"
• "Silver Springs"

Pretty awesome concert calendar coming up...

Fleetwood Mac
Glenn Tilbrook and the Fluffers
Ray LaMontagne
Arlo Guthrie
Bruce Springsteen

If only Gary Louris and Mark Olson would play at the Palace in Greensburg!! Speaking of the Palace, aren't they doing an awesome job. In the past year, I have seen:
The GoGos
The Jonas Brothers(right before they hit it big. For the kids, not me!!!)
Wierd Al Yankovic (for the kids too, but it was a good show)
Robert Cray and Keb 'Mo
Louis C.K.
and next Ray LaMontagne

Awesome work Palace! Now go book Mark and Gary!

Mark Olson and Gary Louris

Be cool. Buy this CD, Ready for the Flood. Mark and Gary are the original front men of my all time favorite band, The Jayhawks. Mark left the band years ago. I have been waiting for this CD to happen for over 10 years. Tom Balya should like this duo. Mark Olson did an entire CD about his dislike of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. I sent him a couple of the songs.