Parking In Bitterman Circle

... new podcast- grammy wrap up If I use the word fabulous in a podcast as many times as I did tonight, fucking kill me. Click on the speaker icon on the upper right of the post or option/right click to save the mp3 on your very own drive...or of course you can just stick this in your aggregator or not...

    ...hillbilly skins       Yup, I can see this lying on the bar partially crumpled and forgotten...cross platform marketing at its most dangerous... From Boing Boing... Marlboro Lights iPod case. Xeni Jardin: The must-have trash accessory for those who suck down their MP3s in a doublewide: a pack of cigarettes transformed into an iPod holder, now for sale on eBay. Its creator says:"I'm a pretty heavy smoker so the idea was perfect. It is not precisely engineered, but it holds the player snug enough that it won't slip out, but not too tight that you can't remove it... Two or more cigarettes hold the player so you can listen and smoke when out and about." Link (Thanks, Charles Moore)

...Bonzo's kids were there... It seems unbelievable that now finally there is a Grammy for Zep... The Guardian  reports that there is a Grammy at last for rock legends. Grammy voters hand members of Led Zeppelin a lifetime achievement award ahead of the ceremony in Los Angeles. 

The washington post reports about the change in format... 10 Million iPods, Previewing the CD's End. Your favorite album will soon be an invisible cyberswirl of 1's and 0's. No CD case. No liner notes to flip through. No . . . nothing.

...more grammy goodies     It's an odd thing about Green Day; they have been accepted into the mainstream and yet haven't changed that much. Good record, good performances, a little bit better behaved... 6 or 7 nods for a Grammy? Wow. Punchy single and the loudest drums yet on the show and the only pyro...dig those dragons....

...post Grammy report Another one is done, even if you're on the west coast and the broadcast is just starting. It went much smoother than the run through, which was a bit choppy. Staples is not the easiest place to work and the ramp up and down with the gear was pretty trashed before the show started. I thought that it was a pretty interesting production for TV, the five act opening and the pairings were a little schmaltzy but better than usual. I'm watching the west coast feed right now and it sounds and looks good. The Grammys needed this as they had some bad technical moments last year. The set looks frickin' huge on TV, a lot bigger than how it was in real life...typical. The split stage with moving walls caused a lot of gripes from the stage crew but all the transitions went pretty smooth. Having an artist lounge downstage center in a hole was slick as you could get the talent in and out without putting them in danger. Melissa was awesome... she is poised for a big comeback this year. Pinetop Perkins got a lifetime achievement award tonight; I hope somebody got him a Sprite to go with his Old Overcoat...     U2 was neat, very white, the song is beautiful but kinda subtle for an awards show....the world's biggest pedalboard was in effect (for guitar snakes 11 patch changes in one song)...     The Southern Rock tribute was ok, mix so so, choice of guests somewhat disjointed...neat to see Skynyrd on TV though...

...afternoon Grammy report     As it is with these live TV things, the run through this morning was filled with shouting, fast moving risers and things falling over. I am quite surprised to say that it looks like it's going to be a very interesting show performance-wise. The big guns are doing their thing (U2, Green Day, etc.) but the tribute spots and a few other things stick out from the run through. The Melissa Ethridge/Joss Stone tribute to Janis Joplin is great, Bonnie Raitt and Billy Preston's segment is sublime and John Mayer is performing with Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan... very nice.     It is as always a roadie convention extrordinare, so many old friends that never get to see each other at the same time. If we weren't so wrapped up in our work and they hadn't banned our cameras, it would make an amazing picture.     It's time for a lunch break... more later as the guitars are polished and the nerves jangle like Cyndi Lauper's bracelets.

... something in common I feel honored to have a piece of info that I posted at TSHNN berated...I feel like I've arrived.... but being a fan of Billy Connelly for so many years I had to pop in and let him know who it was...it's as if someone had mistaken Sam Kinison for Bill Hicks....I know they're both dead, but Hicks was the man...

...podcasting tip If you haven't checked out P.W. Fenton(the self proclaimed Ed Sullivan of podcasting) and his podcast Digital Flotsam, do. It's a wonderful melange of old and new and like the future (according to the Firesign Theatre), it's very clean. Find the feed at Digital Flotsam.org     This week he celebrates Black History month....

...cheeseball kapusta bonanza     I may have found Eldorado for geeks like me, the odd recordings of Buddy Rich and Orson Welles have a home with all the other gems out there at the 365 Days Project.     All I can say is WOW!     Thanks to Otis Fodder, bin diver extrordinare...

...LA grammypodcast2 er somethin'...     Friday night in LA with the majority of the music business in town; parties, events, concerts....what is there for a roadie to do? Well, go to the Apple Store and grab some grub at Poquito Mas....good roadie, eat taco... maybe a short podcast before bed. Click on the speaker icon on the upper right of the post or option/right click to save the mp3 on your very own drive...or of course you can just stick my thingie in your podcast aggregator...don't have one? Well, is pretty damn good and so is

Cory Doctorow does it again... from Boing Boing... More from the ongoing Bit Torrent clamp down and the MPAA leaving their mark on the offending servers... Who did MPAA rip off "You can click but you can't hide" from? What is old is new again...who said that?

... "it never rains in..." yeah right.     Yesterday went pretty smooth at Staples. As with most awards shows (and all TV), you'd better have the hurry up and wait circuit installed. We arrived 2 hours earlier than we were asked and that helped make the workload go easier.     It's a little strange doing such a big show with rental gear but luckily the providers seriously have their act together (thanks guys!) I've been to this one before but never three days before broadcast. It made it less crazed. We now have today and tomorrow off... surreal actually. We'll go back on Sunday when everyone is tried, grouchy and running around like psychos. It's kind of a drag as some of my friends are rehearsing today and Saturday; we're not actually welcome for security reasons. Roadies by and large are... dangerous.     These shows present groups just playing their big hit and they also come up with neat ideas for pairings and tributes. Imagine Eminem and Pavarotti doing a duet tribute to Anita Bryant...ok, don't.     They are not always so contrived but you can still see artists who don't meld well. Our segment has taken some work and should do pretty well. Jeez, just getting everyone able to hear what they need to and not hear what will confuse and infuriate them is work enough. There are one or two other segments that have potential to go either way...     The Clash tribute two years ago was cool ...     As much as these shows are a gathering of people who don't get to see each other enough, we're also spread out all over Los Angeles in dozens of different hotels. Ours may not even be in the phone book, though the toilets work and there is free broadband...that may be the two things that decided our location along with the price. The spattering of road people across the city without cars may keep us apart except for on Sunday when we're trying to do our jobs and not run over each other's toes. I'm gonna try to track down some guys tonight... perhaps the rain will let up.

...wasn't that the point?    The CBC reports that the McCartney show sparks complaints to FCC but not for the reasons you'd think...

... new podcast A report from LA on the Grammys, cheap hotels and a look back at last week in Jacksonville.... click on the speaker icon to the upper right to listen or option/right click to save...