Happy Fourth of July! Wave that flag!



10-19-1974, Winterland, from "The Grateful Dead Movie"

July 3, 2008

BY GARY GRAFF Billboard

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential run might pay dividends for Deadheads this year.

Three of the Grateful Dead’s surviving members — Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart — reunited for a February fundraiser for Obama in San Francisco, and Hart says it could happen again.

‘‘We’re not making plans, but I think we stand at the ready to be of service,’’ Hart says. ‘‘We’re all deeply into this, into Barack Obama and the thought of taking this country back in some shape or form, what’s left of it — it’s probably one thing we can all agree on! So, you bet, I would spend a night with my brothers for that any time, any place.’’

Hart says that he and the other Dead alumni have exchanged ‘‘a few friendly e-mails’’ about doing something more for the campaign, but no firm details have been set. ‘‘That’s all there really needs to be until the moment really comes,’’ he notes.

Weir says the Dead men like Obama ‘‘for different reasons.’’ Mostly, he explains, ‘‘I think it may be the last chance in our lifetimes to get money out of politics, to show special interests the door. It’s also a chance to get younger people involved in politics for the first time in many years; once they’re involved, I think they’ll stay and that’s important because it’s their future being decided now.’’

Weir, who initially supported John Edwards’ presidential bid, adds that he liked what he’s read about Obama’s position on the environment, which is his primary interest. Weir is putting together an ‘‘environmental project’’ that he hopes to announce ‘‘in the next few weeks. I have to get on the phone and see if I can bring some folks on board, and if I can do that then it’ll be time for a roll-out.’’

I went to Taste of Chicago today, and they seemed to have improved access a little. There were either more booths, or they were spaced farther apart; anyways, things moved along much easier. Or maybe the crowd was just smaller.

I ate most of the same stuff as last year, with the exception of new Wow Bao dumplings (very good, although I'm not sure I trust a Chinese restaurant called Wow Bao) and a three-scoop cookies and cream ice cream cone eaten in memory of Adrian. The samosas were amazing as always, as was the chocolate strawberry, although I wish I hadn't dropped most of the chocolate onto the ground. I also had the Lagniappe beignets which were much, much improved this year.

Random sights: A little kid in a pith helmet; a rabbit hopping rather scaredly through the crowd; Eliades Ochoa's hat in the parking garage; someone with a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel on a leash; two people in clown outfits and makeup at one of the Polish deli booths; and the funniest sight of the day: seven (count 'em! SEVEN) cops standing in a circle, looking inward and not paying a bit of attention to what was going on around them. They looked like they were playing Duck Duck Goose.

Yes, folks, it's that time of year again - when idiots from Illinois drive to Indiana, buy fireworks, and shoot them off every night for a full week before the Fourth. I just heard some go off two minutes ago. Can they not wait until Friday? Do they have to shoot them off on June 29?

Thanks to ginamak, who I don't think is Eeyore either:

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That section of the river, Kent said, has a lot of carp swimming around, indicating it's possible the alligator, which was in good condition, was feeding on those fish. The alligator did not try to attack anyone, Kent said.

Animal Care and Control, she said, is not equipped to handle alligators, which is why the herpetologist was called out to the scene. She said the herpetologist will give it "a home and provide a sanctuary for it."

BOSTON (AP) -On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners, the Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one - at last - for Paul Pierce , Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen - their Big Three for a new generation.

After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green.

Lifted by ear-splitting chants of ''Beat L.A.'' from their adoring crowd, which included Boston legends Bill Russell John Havlicek and JoJo White, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 on Tuesday night.

With the outcome assured, Boston fans sang into the night as if they were in a pub on nearby Canal Street. They serenaded the newest champs in this city of champs, and taunted Kobe Bryant and his Lakers, who drowned in a green-and-white wave for 48 minutes.

Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and Pierce, the finals MVP, added 17 as the Celtics, a 24-win team a year ago, wrapped up their first crown since 1986.

This was total domination. The Celtics obliterated the Lakers, who were trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals.

No way. No how. No chance.

Boston's 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher; the Celtics beat the Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA finals.

Pierce doused Celtics coach Doc Rivers with red Gatorade. Owner Wyc Grousbeck, who named his group Banner 17 to leave no doubt about his goal, put an unlit cigar in his mouth - a tribute to Red Auerbach, the patriarch who had a hand in the franchise's first 16 titles.

Garnett dropped to the parquet and kissed the leprechaun at center court, then found Hall of Famer Bill Russell for a long embrace.

''I got my own. I got my own,'' Garnett said. ''I hope we made you proud.''

''You sure did,'' Russell said.

Reason number 1,967 why I should move to San Francisco: Douglas likes sourdough bread. He ate a few bites of it today and then wouldn't leave me alone when I was eating my sandwich.

Douglas wishes everyone a very happy Friday the 13th!

My friend Adrian Garcia lost his three-year battle with liver cancer on Monday, June 9. He was one of the kindest people I have ever known.

Adrian was born in Cuba and lived for ten years under the Castro system before coming to the United States. There were times in his life when they had so little to eat, he had to have ice cream for his meal. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that he was permanently on the sea-food diet (whatever he saw, he ate), and one time he was mooching plantain chips off my plate! He also bought me my first Mojito and told me lots of stories about Cuba.

He was a musician by trade, and played bass guitar with some of the greats. He was Chayanne's tour bassist for years and also guested with Jimmy Buffett, Della Reese, Gloria Estefan, Deborah Gibson, and Sheena Easton when he wasn't playing in Las Vegas stage shows. He also loved martial arts, tennis, his two Akita dogs, and his family. He was a strong Christian, but he never once tried to push his religion on me.

I will miss him very much, but I know he's playing with Jerry Garcia now (they weren't related). Before he died, I promised him that as soon as I'm able to go to Cuba, I'll have an ice cream cone there in his memory.

"Your kindness for weakness I never mistook
I worried you often, yet you understood
That life is so fleeting, these troubles won't last
Forever

Inspired me truly you did from the start
To not be afraid and to follow my heart
There's a piece of you with me they can't tear apart
Forever

Forever I'll find you,forever we'll be
Forever your power and strength stays with me."

- Dropkick Murphys, "Forever"

This video was shot yesterday, a little bit southeast of where I live. This sight would have terrified me when I was little, and it's not exactly enjoyable now. Still, whenever people in the Midwest say "I wouldn't want to live in Florida because of hurricanes" or "I wouldn't want to live in California because of earthquakes," I always counter with this argument:

Well, I can't get it to embed, so here's the link: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-32515#

Anti-depressants, including both Zoloft and generic Prozac, give me very vivid dreams. Here's the dream I had two nights ago:

I was in San Francisco, at the bottom of the Powell-Hyde cable car hill at Powell and Market. There was nobody else in line, and so I got on the car all by myself. (The dream was so vivid that I could sense the low clouds and moisture in the air.) The car went up the hill, past Union Square, into Chinatown, and all the time nobody got in the car. It reached the top of the hill, and then zoomed down the other side of the hill nonstop as if it were a Great America rollercoaster. I wandered around Fisherman's Wharf for a while until I found my motel room, at "Garcia's Motel," a sort of cheap place that wasn't very nice, but serviceable. I went in my room, and thought, "I have to call jennieah , but first I have to find KFOG on the clock-radio." So I found the station and then looked in the mirror and my hair had turned into dreadlocks. The End. 

Personality meme, stolen from ginamak



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My grandmother, Libera Williams B., passed away today, five days before she would have turned 99 years old. She had been in declining health for some time and had lost most of her mental functioning, so in a way this is a good thing as she's out of her misery. But I will always remember the maple sugar candy she bought me, her great love of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, and how she used to chase the car down the driveway as we were leaving to go home.

My grandmother was born in 1909. Take a minute to think about that. When she was born, William Howard Taft was President of the United States, Edward VII was King of England, and Nicholas II was Tsar of Russia. The Model T Ford had only been around for about a year, and the Wright Brothers' flight was just a few years old. There were only 46 states. Two months before she was born, construction began on the Titanic. There were still Civil War veterans, people who had clear memories of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, and former slaves still living. Also still living were Mark Twain, Bram Stoker, Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Gustav Mahler, Leo Tolstoy, Joseph Pulitzer, and Harriet Tubman. And now we announce her passing over the net!

I hope she's picked up Kri (their grey Persian cat, who I loved) at the Rainbow Bridge and has since been reunited with my grandfather, her parents and sister, two of my cousins, and Woody Hayes (but not Bo). Farewell, Grandmother, and don't forget: The cross is for Easter.

A cardinal has been chip-chip-chipping outside my bedroom window for the past ten minutes. STOP!!!

96

Can't believe I forgot Ireland. And Isle of Man is not a country, it's part of the United Kingdom.

Thanks to ginamak and greywingnut
Go here. Keep refreshing until you've collected five quotes that really resonate with you, then post them to your journal.

It's a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or time or fortune, but just yourself that kept things from you.  Lillian Hellman (1905 - 1984)

There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating: people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing. Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable. Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all. William Goldman, "The Princess Bride"

After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say "I want to see the manager." William S. Burroughs (1914 - 1997)

Just to move things along:

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