Quiet Mind

This past week, Brandi Carlile opened for Sheryl Crow for several shows.  I could have gone to the Indianapolis show, but the drive and the ticket would have cost well over $100 and I just couldn't justify that right now for an opening act.  I have read four reviews of different shows they've done together and they all basically say the same thing... Brandi was fabulous, Sheryl was unimpressive.

This review of the Madison show from a local news station sums up what I've read from other reviews: Sheryl Crow Delivers Without Passion

With "If It Makes You Happy," she finally got the crowd on their feet. The appearance of opening act, neo-country siren Brandi Carlile, on vocals raised the energy level even higher. Ducking the song's mammoth guitar chords, the two traded verses and peered at each other as they harmonized together.

Contrast Crow's performance with that of Carlile's and it was painfully clear who felt they had something to prove on stage. Washington state-native Carlile showcased her natural vocal abilities and used it win over the polite crowd with her mostly unfamiliar material, letting her giant voice fill and transform the concrete arena into her own Grand Old Opry. Her falsetto was just as gargantuan and breathy as Sarah McLachlan's, but with an obvious country yodel.

She kept her four-piece band hooked up to a plow of a steady, mid-tempo rhythm for most of the set, but the combo relished the chance to rock out as it did during a electrifying take on Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues." She even broke a taboo by singing a solo, acoustic version of Jeff Buckley's frequently-imitated rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," but her vocal chops earned her a reprieve.

Like Crow, Carlile plays the part of a seasoned pro on stage and strikes all the cliché poses that rock stars feel they need to make in big venues. Maybe she felt she needed to really work the audience. At one point, she asked, "Do the people of Madison like country music?" The response she got was uncomfortably muted. But after her song was over, everyone did.

When it was Crow's turn in the spotlight, however, her usually formidable vocal talents sounded underpowered and mired in a pleasing mid-range as compared to Carlile's, whose voice was as imposing as a cathedral organ.

Can you tell the difference between Bush & McCain?

http://www.bush-mccainchallenge.com

Trimming a hoof on the ol' 709 cow.

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A while back, I set my radio alarm to turn on at 6:30am to the local NPR station.  Yesterday I heard one of the truest statements I've ever heard about the ethanol boom.  From the article:

...the straw that broke the camel's back is the demand for biofuel.

"The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year," Brown says. "And what we are seeing now is the emergence of direct competition between the 860 million people in the world who own automobiles and who want to maintain their mobility while the 2 billion poorest people in the world simply want to survive."

It's about damn time that people start realizing that ethanol is not the answer.  GW's mandates on ethanol production have caused demand and cost of corn to triple in the last two years.  It is to the point now that corn costs so much that ethanol plants can not make money without the government subsidies because the corn costs more than what the ethanol is worth.

Corn futures were up another 6 cents/bushel overnight.  Up, up, up it goes.

At the Ohio Beef Expo Shorthorn sale.

A week ago tonight, I made the three hour drive to Massillon, Ohio to see Susan Werner at the Massillon Museum.  The venue was a nice little art gallery.  It was interesting to browse through it and see the local collection.  The concert was in the first floor gallery where they had just cleared a section and set up chairs.  I’m glad I wasn’t any farther back than the fourth row, because it was difficult enough to see Susan through the heads in front of me.  There were probably 60-70 people there.        

This was the fourth time I’ve seen Susan in concert.  She absolutely amazes me every time.  Her humor, wittiness, and talent puts me in a state of awe every time I see her perform live.  When she began the show by singing the beginning of “(Why Is Your) Heaven So Small” a capella, it gave me chills because it sounded so good.  After she sang it, she dedicated the song to Mike Huckabee and the crowd got a good laugh out of that.

After performing all the songs from her latest album, The Gospel Truth, there was an intermission for people to get their wine refills and browse the galleries.  I’m glad she did all of the songs from her current album, as I missed them last time when she was in Ohio because I got the show late.  This album is best described as an agnostic gospel album.  It’s filled with the doubt and questioning that I quite often feel, but also hope and the gospel-sounding music that I enjoy.

I have previously uploaded songs from a few of her albums.  You can find them here.  After the intermission, she performed a lot of her older songs, including Time Between Trains, May I Suggest, Barbed Wire Boys, Big Car, Chicago Any Day, Stay On Your Side of Town, I Can’t Be New, Philanthropy, and Movie Of My Life.  There were also two other songs that I think are fairly new “I Have Debt” and “Accustomed To Her Face”.

Here are a few of the photos I was able to take between the heads in front of me:

If you have a few minutes to spare or you’re trying to procrastinate doing something productive, check out these videos on youtube:

Then there's some fun videos on youtube that are good too: Susan and Trina Hamlin rehearse in a truck and how to scramble eggs.

Show us a photo of somewhere you want to go.

Well, Vox and Livejournal, I know I've neglected you, but I'm stopping by for a moment.  I'm going to use and abuse you, then probably disappear again until it's convenient for me.

The last two or three months have been a little rough.  It was my stressful busy season at work, then Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a lumpectomy, three of my customers from work passed away (John, Bob, and Steve), and Grandma passed away three weeks ago from cancer.  

So it's Christmas time and I'm not much into the holiday spirit.  This year more than ever, it feels more like the "annual hypercommercialized forced exchange of personal resources" holiday.  What the frack is the point in exchanging gift cards of like values?

My job is even more unsatisfying than it ever has been.  It never was to begin with and I'm sure it never will be.  So here I am complaining about it, again, but neglecting to do anything about it.  Don't ask me why.  I don't know.

Some day I may actually figure out what I want, who I am, what will make me happy and someone to share all that with.  But for now I guess I'll keep pretending to be the good, conservative, quiet, following person, straight daughter, and dependable employee.  Hmm, if you continually pretend, is it still pretending or is it reality?  Maybe some day I'll quit pretending and actually change, but it's hard to change when you don't know what it is you want to change to.  You'd think I would have figured it all out in this limbo I've been in for the last 6 or so years.  Not yet apparently.

So, happy holidays to you too, Vox and LJ.  See you in 08.

Its Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  How many people do you know that have been touched by the disease?
Submitted by Karen.

Many.

Um, matter of fact, I'm scared to death right now because Mom just found a lump last week and they just did a biopsy on Monday.  We're waiting on the results.  Grandma died from breast cancer six years ago.

It's hard not to fear the worst, but I try to hope for the best.

Last night I walked at the lake during sunset on the warm Friday October evening.  It was beautiful.

The sun setting in the west behind an open field that people were using as a remote-control airplane landing.  To the east was the lake with sailboats and wave runners.

A grandpa, a dad, and two kids were fishing from the shore.  Families were riding bikes and walking dogs.

I couldn't help but smile at how great life can be.  What a drastic change of thought compared to earlier in the day when I was consumed by a pounding headache and stress from another day of work during harvest.

At that point last night, I didn't think things could be any better than what they were.  Until this morning.

As beautiful as the sunset was, the sunrise at the lake was probably better.

I had arrived just before the sun had started to peek.  The fog was heavy over the airplane field.  The water on the lake was still and smooth until a lone fisherman came through on his boat causing ripples that kept on long after he had come to a stop.

The three other people I had come to in passing on the quiet morning were friendlier than the self-absorbed folks from last night.

I think I'll make a date with the lake again for tomorrow at 0730 hrs.