Incredibly wired, all caffeined up and no place to go but here and there back and forth to the restroom, draining the instrument of the wiring, the wrung out coffee, cola and iced tea. ICED TEA?!? On a day like this? It’s freezing outside, threatening freezing rain and/ or snow and you are drinking iced tea? Alas, yes, it comes with a complimentary meal arranged by our employer[s] for the dedicated [or poor, depending on one’s perspective] employees who must man this 24 hr / 7 day / 365 per year operation. The meal was much more satisfactory than last year’s dry bird and bland stuffing to be sure.

The paper, such as it was, was done at 4 o’clock. Five thin sections of news and the comics, then the classifieds and then a sections of autos for sale. The remainder of the nine pounds of newsprint I found on my lawn this afternoon dedicated to sale circulars, fodder of the retailer trying to entice me out of my bed at ungodly hours the day after Thanksgiving, hours just as I am retiring to my bed at 4 or 5 a.m., trying to get me to part with my cash that I earn at 2.5 times my normal rate for being here on the holidays; trying to beguile me to feed the monster that I loathe, that crass commercialist / capitalist feeding frenzy known as Christmas. I laugh at the retailers and I scoff at the poor slaves to consumerism who will brave rain and sleet and snow and dead of night to ‘save’ a few Yankee greenback dollars. They’re going to huddle together for warmth in the night, waiting for the opportunity to crush each other and run each other over trying to get to a limited supply of ‘deals.’ Do you NEED that 41 / 50 / 56 inch high definition television? Do your children ‘need’ the ridiculously overpriced latest greatest gaming console to replace the perfectly good and functional last generation one still hooked to your tiny 27 or 31 inch television? DVD players for the car? Back in my day, we barely had a the Sony Walkman to listen to music while on those character building. Clark Griswold-ish long distance drives all over this great land. Make those kids read a book like I had to! Make them look out the window bored at the miles.

I have a lunch break in a few minutes – even though they’ve all ready fed us and there is no place open to explore – no book stores to pick up something new to read; no Best Buy to pick up new sounds for the CD player. No, I’ll try and reach someone far away by dialing out on my calling card. If no one is found, I guess I’ll stare at the news channel spouting on and on about the Primary elections and polling data and all the political B.S. trying to get my interest for an election just under a year from now. I swear I wish there was some incumbent to take the heat off one of the parties, but this election being wide open is making every horse’s rear and his brother throw his hat in the ring. After hearing all this crap for a year all ready and a year to go, I am tempted not to vote for President – just leave that one blank and only vote for Congress, Senate and state offices. Of course, I didn’t vote for anyone for Governor in the last state election and that turned out to be the no-win I suspected. I did have to go vote in the recent bond elections to vote against Prop 15 where Texas will authorize$ 3 BILLION in bonds for cancer research – not the state’s job! – but that passed anyway.

And all this talk of toll roads crisscrossing the Metroplex and of higher tolls at peak hours… Jiminy Christmas! Raise the gas tax and flipping PAY for the road improvements and new roads! Don’t give me this ‘Get there faster by driving in our privatized lanes for .75 for five miles [1.25 at rush hour].’ Infrastructure IS the job of the state! How about $ 3 billion in bonds for road construction?

I get so much, yet so little really done on days like this. Having been in the business a while I know holidays are inherently slow – downloading a little more busy due to trying to arm and disarm systems people have left and not armed or armed with Fido or Socks the cat locked in while stuffing themselves at Grandma’s – that 120 pound Rottweiler will set off the motion detector? But I still grab a couple of books and either load up the MP3 player or the CD player. This year I brought the CDs, figuring I can keep them quiet and not run around with a bud sticking in one ear all night. Curious selections that grabbed my attention: R.E.M. Reckoning [80s garage / alternative/ college radio], Eric Johnson Tones [guitar heroics, but tasteful, not the wanking of a Joe Satriani], Rory Gallagher Tattoo [70s blues rock – wanted another title I only have on vinyl], Joe Jackson [80s Brit pop] and Joe Ely [Texas country rock] collections, Elton John Madman Across the Water [good gloomy day music], Queen Sheer Heart Attack [over the top 70s progressive pop] and Cocteau Twins Milk and Kisses [ethereal]. I still have Lolita in my briefcase [only 50 pages from the end of the sad tale of the twisted Humbert Humbert], but I also grabbed a collection of Truman Capote’s short stories, which will probably be next in the briefcase for daily toting until finished and the 50 pound monster on the LBJ biography I have attacked at various stages of the last few months. I can only take the dry read of politics for a hundred or two hundred pages at a time. So LBJ is now President, and I am just at the halfway mark of the book, but I will go for a week or so, and then put it down to digest it. Of course, I’ve also been distracted from it by Capote and Terry Southern and other tons of light reading…

The one year I wrote the Lester Bangs piece on one long, boring Thanksgiving Day at work. Right now I am only writing the one long piece form my own amusement, an imagined tale of love and lust loosely based on one of those ‘What if…’ questions that dog one in the wee hours.

Why do I dream so much when I am warm under the covers? Since the evenings have turned cooler and I am sleeping under blankets, I am having more dreams – or perhaps I am remembering them more. The other morning I tasted kissed from the improbable female and I felt my blood boiling with each meting of our lips. The intensity of that and then waking up to… I don’t know, my life, I guess. Strange dreams working with old bosses at mixes of old jobs and being lost in one's town and much Heineken drinking and jam sessions at a house that look suspiciously like my Uncle Lou's but in Toronto and getting the girl who looks a lot like Robbie Siegler.

Oh wow, I have has WAAAAYYYY too much caffeine. Ever read Hunter Thompson's First Visit with Mescalito [Songs of the Doomed] where he desribes everything suddenly taking on a sheen and the indicator ball just seems to dance across the typewriter? That's how I feel. It seems a little calmer since I got home - maybe it was just sitting at that work station, read a few pages, check the ques, maybe do a download, back down to the book... A couple hours on the couch, couple glasses of water and I'll be okay. Just remember not to do that again tomorrow...

Shout Out - Dallas Stars Do It Right

Tonight the Dallas Stars honored Mike Modano [aka 'The Pretty Boy'] with a 15 minute ceremony for becoming the top scoring US born player in NHL history and it was a nice, classy ceremony, especially bringing Mike's parents, wife and two other great American hockey players in Joe Muller [first American to score 500 goals] and Phil Housley [former points record holder]. Very well done, very classy.

One other quick Stars note: Why the 'Co- GM?' If you want Brett Hull to learn how to be an NHL GM, why not give the more experienced and groomed for the position Les Jackson the nod and name Hull Assistant GM and let him learn the ropes for a few years? What's in a title? Perception. Power.

Shout Out # 2 - 2nd Best Money Goalie Ever

Wayne Gretzky said he would rather have Grant Fuhr in net for any game seven he ever player - I'd like Patrick Roy myself. But a close second for me would be the New Jersey Devils Martin Brodeur, who became only the second goalie ever to win 500 games in a career. Yes, he's played in extra stingy, boring, defense happy New Jersey, but he's still won them. Way to go, Marty.

NHL at the Quarter Pole

With [American] Thanksgiving, most of the teams in the NHL have played about 1/4 of their games this year - let's look at the pluses and minuses.

PLUS: Ottawa is steamrolling through the East. The NY Hockey Rangers seem to have found their chemistry after a slow start. And it's super pest / glue guy Sean Avery returning that gives them a shot in the arm, same as when they acquired him last year. When Martin Straka comes back next week, look for the Rangers to start a roll of their own. The Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks are playing well and bringing respectability back to a couple of Original 6 franchises that have been on the rocks the last few years. And the Detroit Red Wings - hell, the whole Central Division is playing good tight hockey, much like the Northeast did last year and like the Pacific division was for the seasons before the lockout. St. Louis has lept back into playoff contention after a couple years in the cellar and Nashville appears to be righting the ship after a horrible start. And MAJOR KUDOS to Ken Hitchcock for making the Columbus Blue Jackets play a system and start winning after 6 years in the basement. They might not make the playoffs, but they're not an easy two points anymore. Hitch's old team, the Philadelphia Flyers look like contenders again, but I still think they need to dump one of their big, tree-like defensemen.

MINUS: The Buffalo Sabres have fallen off the table worse than I expected. So have the Washington Capitals - I think it's time to shake hands with Olaf Kolzig and part ways and bring in new blood in the net. Former MVP Jose Theodore will be available this summer... The Anahiem Ducks are suffering terrible Stanley Cup hangover. One game over .500? But no one else seems overly interested in winning the Pacific, though the Sharks look to have found a good mix [but also seem to coast through too many nights]. The Toronto Maple Leafs started off okay but have found new levels of mediocrity - yes, they've had defensemen Bryan McCabe and now Pavel Kubina out, but [dropped in all my fantasy leagues - more on that in a minute] Veska Toskala who was brought in to shore up the nets has been ANOTHER disaster - 3.25 goals against per game and a .894 save percentage. Curtis Joseph is still out there! Eddie Belfour can be called back from Sweden! Does anybody want to win in the Southeast? Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay are mired in .500 streaks and playing streaky, streaky hockey [win 3, lose 3], the Caps are free falling at 1 - 8 -1 ion their last ten and the left for dead at 0 - 6 Atlanta Thrashers are back in the race on an 8 - 2 run! Colorado is 2 - 7 - 1 on the road?

Reaching for the Panic Button: Are the Pittsburgh Penguins panicking yet? I HOPE not! True, they have no second line scoring and their defense is as shaky as ever, but let's look back in history: The 87-88 Pens made the playoffs and them missed the next year - then the won back to back Cups in 90-91 and 91-92. Yes, there were a couple of monster trades in there - raping the Hartford Whalers for Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson being the major one. Don't panic, Pens fans - ride this one out. Calgary was supposed to ride Mikka Kiprusoff and stingy defense to another playoff run, but 'Iron Mike' Keenan hasn't found the right button to push yet. The Flames still need someone on their second line to score, too. The New Jersey Devils got a shot in the arm from Jamie Langenbrunner returning from injury, but the Devils long predicted decline seems to have finally taken root. While probably not shopping Martin Brodeur, I am sure they are looking for a puck moving defenseman - look for Marc-Andre Bergeron te be available with the emergence of Bruno Gervais and Bryan Berard returning from groin issues. Is ownership in Nashville regretting signing Radek Bonk yet? Probably. But there wasn't a whole lot left in the cupboard when management finally got around to signing a second line center. Could Edmonton be talked out of Jarret Stoll?

Watch For: Watch the line of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Tuomo Ruutu work in Chicago. They are amazing young men. Hell, the second line of Robert Lang, Jason Williams and Patrick Sharp isn't too bad either. The Tampa Bay line of Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Vinnie Prospal is pretty hot, too, but the Bolts Brad Richards is not earning that $ 7+ million. The San Jose Sharks have been rumored to be looking to dump 2nd line center Patrick Marleau for a while now and the Sharks have cap room... or how about Richards to Calgary for Craig Conroy and Kristian Huselius?

My Fantasy Teams: I am languishing in the basement of two of my three leagues and in 10th in the third. Streaky teams are killing me. Eric Staal, Paul Statsny, this means you! Also Jaromir Jagr only having 4 goals... also my + / - is atrocious. Standard line [today] 7 skaters playing [out of 10] 1 goal, 3 assists, -2 [but 4 power play points]. My goaltending is coming arounf, but hanging on to Toskala killed me. But this is a marathon, not a sprint.

The Fall

Finger length photosynthetic cells
And thumb sized reproductive pods
Falling from the mother tree
Aged, withered, dried and dead
Littering the lawn
Itself brown and readying
For a snooze that will last winterlong

A switch unseen by man is turned
And a sprinkle of leaves
Turns from a shower to a blizzard
And pecans bomb the roof, yard and car
Night and day
And the yard is suddenly ankle deep
In things that crunch and crackle
When walked upon

I was Close....

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars fired general manager Doug Armstrong on Tuesday after a disappointing 7-7 start following last season's first-round exit from the playoffs.

Armstrong, the Stars general manager since 2002, left the team headquarters in suburban Frisco without comment.

The firing came three days after the Stars blew a four-goal lead in the third period and lost 6-5 in overtime to the Los Angeles Kings.

"I thought that the team needed a change in direction," Stars owner Tom Hicks said. "I know that change can be healthy, and it was my determination that this move needed to be made."

Armstrong had been with the Stars for 17 years, serving as assistant general manager when the Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999. One of his first moves as GM was hiring coach Dave Tippett in 2002.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

And One More Thing About Hockey...

Since he has formally announced his retirement, the hockey sites at ESPN and The Hockey News are ablaze with debate over whether Eric 'Big Baby' Lindros should be elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Like debates for the baseball hall of fame, this is primarily a debate about numbers. Lindros, in 13 injury plagued seasons, potted 375 goals and 865 points and was league MVP in 1995. Lindros played in about 3/4 of his teams games in those 13 years. If you project his numbers out for 80 games a season, Lindros theoretically should have about 515 goals and about 1195 points - not bad totals. More than the great Bobby Orr [270 g / 645 a = 915 pts] and more points than hall of famer [and injury plagued] Cam Neely [ 395 g / 299 a = 694 pts - in 13 seasons]. Neely also only played about 3/4 of his teams games in 13 seasons - his projected numbers would be about 501 goals and 884 points, far short points wise, but in the 500 goal club.

So, the argument says "If Cam Neely is in, the Lindros should be in." But hold the phone here - I am on record saying Cam Neely is no hall of famer. The same way I do not see Mark Recchi as a hall of famer - 500 goals or not. Pat Verbeek, the 'Little Ball of Hate' has 522 goals, but he is not a hall of fame guy. Dino Ciccerelli has 608 goals, but I don't think he is worthy of hall of fame induction. Peter Bondra finished with 503 goals, but in no way is he a hall of fame guy.

On the opposite side, some player still active who will be in the hall of fame: Joe Sacik [610 goals] Brendan Shanahan [627], Jaromir Jagr [621], Mike Modano and Jeremy Roenick. PROBABLY Mats Sundin [523] because he will be the highest scoring Swede and he is a classy individual. These others will be in because they have shown leadership and dedication to the game and dominated it at times. The same reason Bobby Orr is in the hall of fame with his numbers - Orr totally dominated the game in his time.

Much like the baseball hall of fame, 500 used to be a magical number - automatic ticket punch to the hall of fame. And much like baseball, I think this 'magic number' thing has fallen by the wayside of our times. Athletes now are better trained, train year round and have access to remarkable medical assistance [not steroids, you jerks!]. Can one how long Bobby Orr could have played if he had access to today's microsurgery techniques?

I think now more than ever, the issue of character should play into consideration for the hall of fame. Pat Verbeek is a competitor for being as short as he is and still getting all those goals, but is there any talk about Pat Verbeek being one of the game's "All Time Greats?" Do people talk about Pat Verbeek or Dino Ciccerelli or Peter Bondra in the breathless amazed way they talk about seeing Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux, Rocket Richard or Gordie Howe?

If Sergei Fedorov and Keith Tkachuk reach 500 goals for their careers, will they be automatically in? Fedorov possibly, as he will be the highest scoring Russian ever - but his numbers have fallen off dramatically since he left Detroit - he was in the right system for his style of play for a short time. Tkachuk, like Ciccerelli, I don't think so. Scoring 'garbage goals' by being in front of the net takes balls but neither dominated the games, neither had the ability to take a team on his back. Teemu Selanne at this time has 540 goals and 1135 points, 2nd most by a Finnish born player in the NHL [Jari Kurri - 601 g / 797 a = 1398 pts] but is he really a hall of famer? That's borderline, because the 'Finnish Flash' could be exciting to watch... but so could 'the Russian Rocket' Pavel Bure [702 games, 437 g / 342 a = 779 pts in 13 NHL seasons]. But dominant? Should those guys be in because they were fast?

All I am saying is that in this media driven and medical miracle age, it's going to take more than numbers for players to be considered outstanding. Rafael Palmiero, Sammy Sosa and 'The Jerk With the Giants' have great numbers, but there are whispers and accusations about the way they got them, calling their character into question. Much like the vaunted 3000 hits / 500 home runs in baseball, there will be players who reach that mark who really do not belong in the hall of fame - Wade Boggs [3010 hits], Craig Biggio [3060 hits], Mark McGwire [583 home runs], Frank Thomas [513 HR], Jim Thome [513 HR] - were any of those players great ON THE FIELD or were they just spare parts at a position who could hit? Biggio I think is the best of that group and a classy person as well.

It's called the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of the Very Good or the Hall of People Who Put Up A Lot of Numbers. One can be famous for a lot of things, especially with all the media now. To me, that means we should hold the 'Best of the Best' to a higher standard.

A Good Week for USA Hockey

Two of the game's great Americans busted through a couple of milestones this week. On Wednesday night in San Jose, Mike Modano passed former Buffalo Sabers / Winnipeg Jets / St. Louis Blues / Calgary Flames / New Jersey Devils / Washington Capitols / Chicago Blackhawks / and for one game, Toronto Maple Leafs [sic] defenseman Phil Housley of St. Paul, Minn for the most points ever by an American in the NHL at 1233.

Now I have stated on lots of aoccasions that I think Modano [Livonia, Mich] is a pretty boy and appreciated more by the fans in Dallas for his boyish good looks than his hockey skills. And I stand by that - I hope that is more of a statement about the Dallas fans than a slag on Modano. But MM is a very skilled hockey player - one on the downside of his career, but still one who plays a smart two way game and who can still wire one. Luckily, the tying and passing points were on goals by Modano, the latter a shorthanded breakaway that seemed more like it slipped off his stick betweeen the goalie's legs than a real shot, but they all look like slap shots in the paper the next day. And, unlike in Nashville where there was controversy in the game leaving fans booing when he passed NY, NY's Joe Mullen for most goals by an American last year [at 503], the fans in San Jose applauded long and loud for both the tying and passing points / goals. Much like fans in Dallas gave Pittsburgh's Mark Recchi an ovation for scoring his 500th here.

I was at the game last year versus LA where Modano scored number 499 on a wicked wrister from the slot to the cookie jar, high on the glove side. And I was at the game where Modano was honored for playing his 1000th game. So my hockey, because I am here in DFW is tied to Modano, sort of. He's not a numbers guy like he was in years past, but he was feeling the pressure going into this record - now that it's over with, maybe he can loosen his grip on the stick and get back to just playing hockey. He wired on in the last minute last night versus LA...

And the mouth of the NHL [since Brett Hull retired], former Chicago Blackhawk / Phoenix Coyote / LA King and current San Jose Shark scored his 500th goal Saturday night, taking a couple of victory laps with his son on his shoulders, I hear. JR has been a controversial figure in the NHL, but that's because he just says what is on his mind. Sometimes his thoughts just run straight to the mouth, skipping the brain. He was interviewed between periods Wednesday and had nothing but great things to say about Modano, a frequent team mate in international play. He's playing more and talking less this year, having really been coaxed out of retirement by Sharks coach [and his former Hawks team mate] Ron Wilson. I think he has added a much needed veteran presence in the locker room and on the ice. And he's playing cheap.

So congratulations to two of the US's best hockey players ever. And Mikey Mo better watch his back on that goal scoring list - he only has 512 right now...

While on the Subject of the Stars...

Dallas blew a 4-0 lead Saturday night, letting the LA Kings score 5 goals in just over five minutes to go 2 -1 -1 on their four game road swing through the Pacific division. If I hadn't seen it , I wouldn't have believed it either. They tied it on Mo's goal, but Anze Kopitar, the Kings young center who looks like a Mats Sundin starter kit, but an absolutely SICK backhander through Marty Turco's pads to win in overtime. The defense looked like PYLONS out there when he came off the wall...

The Stars beat two good teams in Anaheim and San Jose and they lose to two bottom dwellers like Phoenix and LA. I had predicted that the Stars needed a .500 road trip to save coach Dave Tippet's job, but the losses may just have been the straws that get Tip axed. Maybe not tomorrow, but I am saying now that if the Stars are at .500 or worse come Thanksgiving, Dave Tippet will be the next NHL head coach on the unemployment line.

More Music Notes...

All Blink - 182 albums sound EXACTLY the same... Why don't I like Everclear more than I do? They have good albums but nothing that just jumps out and demands repeated playings. Blues Traveller - *sigh* harmonica solos on one or two songs on an album are okay, if you must, but a whole band based on them? Jeez, I have a hard enough time with a whole Little Walter album and he has more than one tone. John Popper's solos all sound the same. And he doesn't have enough gravel to his voice like a Howlin' Wolf or John Lee Hooker for me to take him seriously. Coldplay - this needs more in depth investigation. Travis and Coldplay seem like two good explorers of the post modern darker edge of British pop - not too hard, not too out there.

Bought Deep Purple In Rock on vinyl today on Michael Leone's recommendation. It rocks hard, though I still say Machine Head is their masterpiece - not unlike comparing the first Black Sabbath to Paranoid.

It's 12:28am when I hear the first shot. It's loud. It's close. It echoes around in my head for a second. Of course, my first thought is "What the fuck was that?" but I knew. It's close and it sounds like a big gun, somewhere off to the left, which is east from whee I am sitting watching the tube. I look through the blinds but the street is empty; no cars, no pedestrians, no one running like they've just shot somebody. It's probably on the block behind me. I make sure both locks are done on the door and go hit the head and into the kitchen for another glass of water. I am just walking back into the living room when I hear the second shot - 12:32. It's not as loud and it sounds a little to the right, but really who can tell?

I've been in this house a little over a year. Occasionally over that year you'll hear a few pops like gunfire off in the distance. Sometimes they sound like firecrackers, but I know they're gunshots. I am waiting this time for the familiar sound of the cops tearing through the neighborhood - the street I live on is a semi major thoroughfare and every couple of weeks you get the sirens and the sound of really speeding [as opposed to the normal idiots speeding] through. There's a fire station about a mile down, too, so I often get the fire truck or ambulance going by. But tonight there's no sirens.

It's about 2:45 when the next shot breaks through the neighborhood. It's the big gun again, off to the left. There's no reply this time. My neighbor two doors down told me last week someone took his aluminum ladder off his garage from inside his fenced yard. He only paid about $ 15 at a pawn shop for it, but it's the principle. Are you going to get $ 10 at the pawn shop again for an 8 foot used aluminum ladder? But then Danny tells me you can get better money at the metal scrapyard for them. Aluminum, copper wire scraps - I gave Danny some old aluminum framed windows that were in the garage to take to the scrapyard earlier this year. Is someone defending their property or just a drunk who likes to shoot his gun?

I am dog tired, but I can't get comfortable when the last shots of the night ring out. It's about 4:30 and again, one big bag off to the left - this time a few seconds later, there's a string of about four shots reply from the right - Pop! pause... Pop! Pop! Pop! I wonder if I should call the cops. But I don't know where the shots are coming from or anything. I wonder for a second about a stray bullet plowing in through a window, through the back of the couch and into me. I suppose it could happen. What do I want to do, put up plywood to protect the back of the couch? Put a defensive array of strategically placed bricks in my living room window to protect my back? It's just one of those crazy thoughts - worry about it when it happens.

Forgotten Band of the Month

After seeing the Classic Albums - Machine Head for about the 25th time, I finally broke down and bought the remastered Very Best of Deep Purple [ON SALE for 9.99] which is kind of like the old Deepest Purple best of, one of the quietest but longest vinyl records I ever had. It has those 12 tracks plus the pre- Gillan/ Glover [Mark II, best known version] Kentucky Woman and Hush and the Mark II reunion 'hit' Knockin' At Your Back Door.

Now Machine Head is a fine album, probably the only other Purple to own besides a good hits album. The group is really really tight and at the peak of their power here, especially the non-radio songs like Maybe I'm A Leo, Pictures of Home and Lazy, and of course the trio of AOR staples, Smoke on the Water, Space Truckin' and Highway Star. But the 'Best of' reminds that this was not a band to be taken lightly. How can one forget the drawn out majesty of the sections of Child In Time, the rapid fire fun of Speed King, the heavy riffing of Strange Kind of Woman and Fireball. Then there's the Mark III killer [David Coverdale / Glenn Hughes] Burn. Okay, Stormbringer sounds like Coverdale doing Ronnie James Dio, with whom Blackmore would form Rainbow shortly after Stormbringer's release. Okay, I lied, Burn [the album] is also worth having, or the Mark III live release Live In London, for that version's smoking songs Burn, Might Just Take Your Life, Lay Down, Stay Down and Mistreated. Why a second song from the release wasn't added, I do not know. Well, I do; so they could add the Mark II reunion hit. Now that I think about it, Perfect Strangers WAS a good album.

Purple though is a band that refuses to just go away, long after they probably should - they've lost Richie Blackmore and Ian Gillan again, replacing them with ex-Rainbow vocalist Joe Lyn Turner and ex-Dixie Dreg and Kansas guitarist Steve Morse. And now the brilliant under-rated keyboardist Jon Lord has retired from the road. *sigh*

Still, Deep Purple was one of those bands famed for loud and long concerts in the 70s - and probably one of those bands that slides under the radar - almost a one hit wonder for only having one really huge album. Much more interesting than other 'Progressive Rock' bands like Yes, Genesis, ELP and sometimes King Crimson, it's a little bit of a shame that people don't know what a great drummer Ian Paice is or what a fantastic keyboardist Jon Lord is. But that's the way it goes sometimes, I guess.

30 years of punks

As I was grabbing the latest issue of Mojo last week I also managed to pick up the latest issue of Spin, with Sid [Vicious] on the cover [Mojo having the late Syd Barrett on their cover]. The head line screams out BOLLOCKS TURNS 30.

Since I lambasted U2 on the 20th anniversary of The Joshua Tree, I feel okay making a few remarks about Rotten & company's 30th anniversary.

First of all, I never heard Bollocks until 1988.And I only heard it because Chris Cottrell [?] brought in his copy one Sunday. I was shift managing at Sound Warehouse at the time and though Sundays were short days [1200pm - 600pm], no one wanted to work them. So, since they were slow days that we caught a lot of our inventory sheets up. I made them a little brighter by allowing people to bring in their own CDs.

Understand, that your usual 'Play Stack' at the time was a lot of stuff from the last 6 months and you hear a lot of the same things over and over and over.... and over. AND over. Did I say over and over? It kind of becomes second nature to tune it all out after a couple of weeks - even great stuff like the Smithereens and R.E.M. and all. And I figured we sold all kinds of music, so why not bring in something a little older or a little off the wall, trying to remember that it's a FAMILY STORE. So I might bring Toys in the Attic or Rocks, someone would bring Kate Bush or the Cure- Chris brought the Pistols and the Ramones.

Now by this time, I was well into the Clash's London Calling, and I am sure I would have eventually found or forced into hearing the Pistols. I recall I liked Holiday in the Sun, Anarchy and Queen [of course], Bodies and Pretty Vacant but overall, I was 'It's okay.' But I bought it.

In the 20 years since, I've had times where I like the record more than others, and I am not about to start knocking the Pistols for the influence they had - but I still think it's 'okay.' I'd usually much rather hear the Clash or the Jam or X or Buzzcocks or Dead Boys or Damned or the Ramones or something else when I feel 'punk.' The No, Thanks box doesn't have a note of the Pistols on it, which is okay by me.

VH1 Classic has run their Classic Albums on the Pistols and I've seen it a few times after 1am - Steve Jones talking about how Glen Matlock had all these songs with 'Beatles chords,' "and I kept telling him 'I can't play Beatles chords.'" ranks right up there with Joe Strummer's Behind the Music claim that [after they fired Mick Jones] "It would never have that BUUURRRRRN again."

So, I found the Pistols at age 21 - probably a good age if I hadn't been working in the record store tracking down the Stooges, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Winter, Rolling Stones, Clash, Aerosmith, Fishbone, Smithereens, R.E.M., Replacements, etc. I was too young when it hit the racks and that stuff didn't get played - except on George Gimarc's Rock and Roll Alternative between 1030 and midnight on Sunday night [on the late great KZEW] - but I was listening to Doctor Demento [on Z-97, later The Eagle] at that time in 1977 - well, 78-79. And besides, can you make the jump from Kiss right to the Pistols? [Maybe.]

I draw distinctions though. I see Blondie and Television and Talking Heads as part of Seymore Stein's NEW WAVE. The Cars could have been considered New Wave. Because they could play more than barre chords and used synthesizers? Maybe. But I think the Pretenders fit in there, too and they didn't use synths... but I don't think the Replacements were 'punks,' either, not Husker Du nor Minutemen nor Cramps... Dead Kennedys, you betcha. Flipper - YES! Fear, yeah. But a lot of those bands took that 'Those idiots are doing it? I can do THAT...' and really DID it. And ultimately, that's what makes the Sex Pistols one of the most influential bands ever.

I think Johnny Rotten / John Lydon did some great stuff with Public Image, Ltd. - especially their mid 80s run of Album, Happy? and 9.

So go gobb on yer old vinyl copy of Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols in celebration of 30 years of Johnny Rotten asking "Do you ever get the feeling that you've been cheated? Ha ha." Well... do ya, punk?