The very day after I write on these pages that we’re back and I’ll be writing more we signed a lease on a rent house and moved. Of course we don’t have Internet yet, of course I’ll be unable to post shows until then. Currently I’m leaching off some kind neighbor who isn’t protecting their wireless connection, but the signal isn’t nearly strong enough to post shows. However, I still have some links for you, kind reader.

Bruce Hornsby
Several shows from the 80s and 90s
Download lossless FLAC: Lossless Live Music Downloads

Aerosmith
Several shows from the 1970s
Download MP3: The Clock That Went Backwards Again

Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
03/27/00
Boston, MA
Download MP3: Nathan’s Rock Moat

Ozzy Osbourne
Monsters of Rock 1984
Download MP3:Stadium Studios

Jeff Buckley
June 28, 1995
Rouen
Download MP3: Bootlegs from Buckley

Here’s the deal: Everyone knows I’ve been in Europe the last three months and have sucked at updating. Well, we’re back now, just signed a lease on a new house and are ordering utilities including fast internet. This means I should be more available for things like writing and music and the uploading of shows. At this point I make no promises as to when I’ll be doing these things regular like, but I’d say by next week you’ll start seeing some show appear.

Huzzah, Hurrah, etc.!

I’m at a friends right now and can’t do any uploading, but I thought I would throw out a few links of cool sounding shows to wet the appetites so to speak.

Suzanne Vega
Demo Tapes
Download MP3@192kps: Megaupload
Originally posted on Guitars101

Wilco
U.I.C. Pavilion
Chicago, Illinois
October 19, 2009
Download Lossless FLAC: Live and Lossless

Monsters of Folk
Morning Becomes Eclectic
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
Academy of Music (11/9/09)
Download MP3s@Mystic Cords of Memory

Yet I am a spectator.

A tourist.

Real men and women, our grandfathers and great-uncles fought for their lives in the spaces.

Elie Weisel is one such person.

Taken to concentration camps when he was but a teenager he managed to survive by his youthfulness, his wits, and sheer luck. The story he has written about these experiences is nothing short of miraculous.

It is an amazing story told by a poet.

There is nothing more to say about it.  Recommended reading for every literate person everywhere.

But this is about the book, not the movie. Yet it is because of the movie that I read the book. I would have never known of the book were it not for the movie. I had previously seen the graphic novel version of the book in Barnes and Nobles, and read quite a few pages in that store. Sadly, that particular store was a bit away from my home and I never returned to finish the book. Gladly we found it in another store in Tennessee and I purchased it immediately.

This particular copy was not done if graphic novel form, but also contained a number of other Matheson short stories. Since the graphic novel contained many illustrations it was fattened up quite a bit, as was my copy with the short stories. The thing is my copy didn’t mention the other stories and so I thought Legend was a bigger novel than it actually is. This caused quite a bit of disappointment when I came to realization.

Short as it is, I found it quite enjoyable. I still like the idea of a abandoned New York City more than a desolate Los Angeles, but that’s a minor point. The concept is fascinating and it works very well in this story. The ending is also creepy and interesting.

I read it during our limbo time in which we were living in one of the university dorms awaiting our transition to Europe. This added a bit of atmosphere to the story as it felt a bit like we were in some strange land with strangers about.

I cannot sleep on planes. It is simply an impossibility. I have long since given up hope on that front. For the long hours it takes to fly overseas, I first get myself into the Zone (deep breaths, relaxed mood, slowed down mental capacity) and then I look for some movies.

The big planes these days all have small video screens behind every chair and direct access to a variety of movies, TV shows, and games. Gone are the days when everybody had to watch the same movie on only a handful of screens.

For this years flight to Belgium I picked out three films, two of which I had wanted to see for some time, and one I had never heard of.

Gran Torino is the Clint Eastwood picture that supposedly is the last movie he will ever act in. He does a great job acting the embittered, racist, old man constantly telling the kids to “get off my lawn.” The plot is fairly predictable, but the acting is excellence and the story fairly moving.

Killshot is based on an Elmore Leonard novel that I recently read. It had a lot of trouble getting released and has received pretty tepid reviews, but I enjoyed it. It has none of the punch of the novel, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is mis-cast but over all it was a decent way to kill time on a plane.

Sunshine Cleaning is made by the folks who brought Little Miss Sunshine and seemingly are making a racket out of Sunshine movies. I had never heard of it before, but it proved to be just as charming, quirky, and fun as Little Miss Sunshine, and likely more-so.

Being on a plane for more than a few hours is never any fun, but getting to choose your own movies certainly makes it better.  The small screens, and the exhaustion make the viewing experience less than stellar, and I should probably revisit the films at some point, but I’m glad to see them when I did.  Looking forward (in a way) to find what films I’ll see on the flight home.

As everyone knows by now my wife and I are in transition. We recently moved to West Tennessee only to pack back up and spend 3 months in Europe. Usually moving to a new area means lots of lonely nights sitting around with no one to hang out with. Since my wife got her undergraduate degree at the same university where she is now employed she has a small stock pile of people she knows. Most of the people are only loose acquaintances - people she shared a class with, others she might see in the hallways, etc. - a few are actually friends and she’s been catching up.

The best part of this is that instead of spending the first few month in a new town trying to figure out the town and make at least one friend, we already have a small selection of people we are able to hang out with.

Case in point: Harry Potter. With the new movie coming out while we were in Tennessee we were invited to some friends of friends’ house to see the last one (Order of the Phoenix) in preparation for Half Blood Prince. We ate popcorn, got to know each other, and had a grand old time. On the weekend we went with the same group to see the new one in the theatre and then ate some dinner at the Olive Garden.

I have moved many times in my life, to many different cities. It is always difficult making the transition, getting to know new people and trying to make friends. It was absolutely wonderful to be welcomed by so many so quickly and to share the experience that is Harry Potter.

For example I have had today completely free, but have spent most of it planning our trips for the three weeks we have off.  The first two start a week from today, and there are train rides to plan, hostels to book, and many other details to plan.  It is true I have also played on Facebook a lot, and played Mafia Wars, but I a boy deserves his fun now and again.

I hope to do a little catch up on my movie/reading journals today, but that will be about it.  You can expect there to be very little writing over the next month and a half.  Once we move back to the States (and find us a home) I fully expect the writing and bootlegging to commence again.  I think I shall just have to plan for The Midnight Cafe to take a three month hiatus every fall while we travel Europe.

And that’s the news.

PS it if very possible that my blog will disappear tomorrow.  I received notice today that the renewal is up, but when I tried to renew it online I got errors.  I’ve sent support notices to the people, but who knows how long it will take for them to fix it.

Download MP3@256kps: Megaupload

The Libertines
12/18/03
The Forum
Kentish Town
London, UK

Up The Bracket
Vertigo
Last Post On The Bugle
Death On The Stairs
Plan
Mayday
Begging
Time For Heroes
Don’t Look Back Into The Sun
The Good Old Boys
Boys In The Band

Download MP3@256kps: Megaupload

Neko Case
03/05/09
Amoeba Music
Hollywood, CA

People Gotta Lot of Nerve
Maybe Sparrow
Hold On, Hold On
Middle Cyclone
I’m An Animal
The Tigers Have Spoken
Red Tide
Don’t Forget Me
That Teenage Feeling
This Tornado Loves You
Vengeance Is Sleeping

Download MP3@160 kps: Megaupload

Neil Young & Pearl Jam
06/24/95
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA

“Broken Mirror” - Liberated Bootleg
Big Green Country
Act Of Love
Throw Your Hatred Down
Powderfinger
Truth Be Known
Rockin’ In The Free World
The Needle And The Damage Done
Hey Hey, My My
I’m The Ocean
Down By The River
Downtown
Cortez The Killer
Peace And Love
Rockin’ In The Free World