7/4

No.

And I thought this was another remake of an old movie.

How was it? I dig it, it's been a long time since I read a Jimi bio. There were pre-London facts I didn't know about. He had a pretty fucked up chilhood. No, I guess I should.

...and many more!

I wonder if I can use a 2GB CompactFlash card in the MicroTrack.

J&R has it for $399. Order it off the web site from out side of NY state and save $$ in state sales tax.

I'm thinkin' 'bout getting one of these to replace my DAT machine. 2-channel WAV and MP3 recording and playback for pro recording, meetings, training, education and worship battery-operated; storage via convenient CompactFlash or microdrives immediate drag-and-drop file transfer to PC and Mac via USB 2.0 mini-connector balanced 1/4” TRS inputs with line inputs and phantom-powered mic preamps S/PDIF digital input; RCA and 1/8” headphone monitoring outputs http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Micr...k2496-main.html

10 miles south of Newark, NJ - $2.40

Sad news. I thought he made some really interesting accoustic-electric music.

Wow.

He died on Sunday. http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...07entry401707

Dr. Egon Spengler: Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning's reading, it would be a Twinkie thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds. Winston Zeddemore: That's a big Twinkie. ← I think we need a Twinkie alert with the morning weather.

That's what I was thinking, I remember hearing it when I was a kid and it has served me well for many years. Maybe I read it in Guitar Player or later in DownBeat? ...and welcome to the board!

Maybe this explains why I get messages like this: The site is getting pounded by web bots.

August 22, 2005 Some Decry Glitz of Thompson Blastoff By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:05 a.m. ET WOODY CREEK, Colo. (AP) -- Hunter S. Thompson's grand finale went off as planned: His ashes were blasted into the night sky in an explosion friends and fans agreed he would have loved. But some said the gonzo journalist would have sneered at the Hollywood trappings -- champagne toasts by movie stars and former presidential candidates. Filmmaker Nancy Cohen tried to organize a group of 100 fans outside the gates of Thompson's farm to crash the Saturday night party. ''That's what Hunter would have done,'' she said. ''This looks more like a fancy dress ball than a memorial for a counterculture icon,'' said Cohen, of New York, producer of ''My Dinner With Abbie,'' a film about 1960s radical activist Abbie Hoffman. Crashing the party would have been difficult with the dozens of black-clad security guards who lined the roads leading to the farm. ''It looks like the neighborhood has been invaded by the Viet Cong,'' friend and neighbor Mike Cleverly said of the guards. ''I am pretty sure it isn't how Hunter would have done it,'' said longtime friend George Stranahan. The writer's ashes were fired from atop a 15-story tower modeled after Thompson's logo: a clenched fist, holding a peyote button, rising from the hilt of a dagger. It was built between his home and a tree-covered canyon wall. The guests gathered in a pavilion next to the platform. Inside were blow up sex dolls and a mask of Thompson's arch enemy, late President Richard Nixon. With drums beating in the background, trays of champagne circulated before Thompson's remains flew. Thompson shot himself in his kitchen Feb. 20, apparently despondent over his declining health. The national and most local media were barred from the tribute to the groundbreaking writer who was credited, along with Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese, with helping pioneer New Journalism -- he dubbed his version ''gonzo journalism'' -- in which the writer was an essential component of the story. His only son, Juan Thompson, said the hundreds of celebrities, including actors Johnny Depp and Bill Murray, musician Lyle Lovett and former Democratic presidential nominees George McGovern and Sen. John Kerry, wouldn't have felt comfortable with the press around. Depp, who played Thompson in the 1998 film adaptation of ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,'' paid for the $2.5 million extravaganza. Depp and Juan Thompson embraced as the ashes fell to the ground. Juan Thompson told the Aspen Daily News that the ceremony not only fulfilled the vision his father outlined in a 1978 BBC video, but it ''was bigger than he ever imagined.'' Ralph Steadman, who illustrated many of Thompson's works, had a different take on the extravaganza. ''He'd probably say it wasn't quite big enough,'' said Steadman. ''We want him back. (Saturday night) was a kind of pleading for him to come back. All is forgiven.''

That's it.

I didn't see it, but I read all about the ending in the NY Times this morning.

August 22, 2005 Ashes-to-Fireworks Send-Off for an 'Outlaw' Writer By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE WOODY CREEK, Colo., Aug. 21 - Hunter S. Thompson indulged in numerous hallucinogenic fantasies over the years, but this weekend, one of them morphed into reality: his ashes were blasted into the sky over his farm here, carried by red, blue and silver fireworks in front of a 153-foot monument that Mr. Thompson, the writer and avatar of "gonzo" journalism, designed himself almost 30 years ago. Former Senator George McGovern, the protagonist of Mr. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72," was among the 350 invitation-only guests who paid him tribute before liftoff. "I'm not quite sure where he's going," Mr. McGovern, 83, mused in his flat South Dakota prairie voice during two hours of alcohol-free tributes. "But I salute you and wish you a happy journey in that land of mystery." Mr. Thompson's family and friends - including Senator John Kerry, Lyle Lovett, Bill Murray, the musician David Amram, Ed Bradley and locals like Bob Braudis, the sheriff of Pitkin County, Colo. - watched Saturday night as his ashes exploded with fireworks, lingered in great puffs of milky smoke, then vanished. "When the going gets weird," Mr. Thompson once wrote, "the weird turn pro." Thus, six months to the day after Mr. Thompson shot himself to death at age 67 at his home here, did his family and friends produce a highly professional show, staged and choreographed by Hollywood and underwritten by his friend the actor Johnny Depp for more than $2 million. "It's nice to be able to give a little something back," Mr. Depp, who played Mr. Thompson in the film version of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," told the crowd as the ceremony began solemnly about 6:30 Saturday night. "Hunter, this is for you." What unfolded here in the Rockies just outside of Aspen was the complete canonization of Mr. Thompson. At the entry to what could only be called the set, his portrait was hung at the center of his personal literary solar system, surrounded by the planets of Samuel T. Coleridge, Joseph Conrad, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller, John Steinbeck and Mark Twain. Jann Wenner, publisher of Rolling Stone, whose early history was entwined with Mr. Thompson's emerging career, said that Mr. Thompson was "the DNA of Rolling Stone" and called him "one of the greatest writers of the 20th century." Douglas Brinkley, the historian and Mr. Thompson's literary executor, said that beyond Mr. Thompson's persona as an outlaw journalist, "Hunter wanted to be remembered as a writer." He called him "the Billy the Kid of American literature." Throughout the tributes, the monument, sheathed Christo-like in a silky red fabric, loomed in the gloaming, becoming ever more prominent as the natural light faded and spotlights illuminated it against a backdrop of darkening cliffs. The service was private and laced with what was called "Academy Award-level" security. Mr. Thompson's fans were kept at bay, as were most of the news media, and guests were barred from bringing cellphones, cameras and recording devices. Orange cones marking a tow-away zone extended for three miles beyond Mr. Thompson's home off a narrow strip of rural roadway. Black-clad security guards, aided by a dozen county sheriff's deputies, patrolled the 40-acre property, which Mr. Thompson bought in 1968 for $50,000 and is now worth millions. By nightfall, scores of fans had gathered at the nearby Woody Creek Tavern and outside the gate to the property. Sheriff's deputies said that "numerous people" tried to crash the scene but were escorted away. The pavilion for guests, constructed in the last several weeks, was a vast stage set under a glass ceiling. To set a somber tone, everything, including the bar, was initially draped in black velvet. After the service, the black was lifted to reveal couches and Thompson memorabilia like stuffed peacocks and a gong. Above the bar were chandeliers and swatches of red velvet, evoking a frontier bordello. His widow spoke first. "We've been through a lot together," Anita Thompson, 32, told the guests. She sobbed her way through Coleridge's "Kubla Khan," which she said was Mr. Thompson's favorite poem. Earlier in the day, Mrs. Thompson took a brief ride, accompanied by a reporter, high over the property in a crane used to construct the monument. She had flown with his ashes the week before to Pennsylvania, where she delivered them to the Zambelli fireworks company. Technicians encased the remains with the fireworks in mortar shells, which were driven back to Colorado in an armored car. "Hunter just wants to come home," she said, gazing out on the sharp peaks surrounding the valley. At the ceremony, Mr. Bradley of the CBS program "60 Minutes" described first learning of Mr. Thompson through his writings in 1972 and thinking of him as an "off-the-wall madman"; eventually Mr. Thompson became one of his closest friends. Like others, he spoke of his grief at losing Mr. Thompson, saying he thought he had finished his crying until he started writing his tribute. Mr. Wenner recalled his drug-crazed exploits with Mr. Thompson but spoke of his feelings as well, saying at one point that he had been jealous of how close Mr. Depp had become to Mr. Thompson. "Now those days are gone," Mr. Wenner said. "Once I had Hunter all to myself, and now I don't have him at all. And none of us do." Mr. Thompson's son, Juan Thompson, 41, closed the tributes, a reminder that the ceremony was not only about a counterculture legend but also a father. He said he was not seeking "closure," dismissing that as "a Dr. Phil word." "I don't want closure; I want to remember him," he said. "Missing him is a way of loving him." As Champagne was served, Juan Thompson declared: "The king is dead. Long live the king." His father then appeared on screen from a 1978 BBC documentary, describing how he wanted his ashes dispersed. He drew up plans that looked remarkably like the steel monument a few hundred feet away. Norman Greenbaum's 1969 anthem "Spirit in the Sky" then rose from the sound system, with the lyrics: "When they lay me down to die/ Going on up to the spirit in the sky." The silky red dressing around the monument slowly unpeeled itself, revealing a rocket-like structure embedded with a dagger. It was crowned by Mr. Thompson's logo, a two-and-a-half-ton red fist with two thumbs and a psychedelic peyote button pulsating at its center, a Day-Glo sight visible for miles around. The final send-off began with Japanese ceremonial drummers and Buddhist readings in Tibetan. Then, with a bang that Matt Wood, a Zambelli fireworks designer and producer, described as just below the level of a sonic boom, 34 lines of fireworks streamed from the ground. The whole display lasted less than a minute, after which a recording of Bob Dylan wailed with "Mr. Tambourine Man" ("I'm ready for to fade/Into my own parade"). The partying then commenced, with jam sessions into the wee hours. The monument, taller than the Statue of Liberty, is temporary because it violates local ordinances. Mrs. Thompson said she hoped to keep it up for two weeks, then would build a pond nearby as a permanent sanctuary, with a government-issued tombstone. (Mr. Thompson was an Air Force veteran.) She plans to inscribe it with a Thompson saying: "It never got weird enough for me."

http://cduniverse.com/

RIP Bob.

I guess I should check out more Rouse. So little time, so much music.

August 21, 2005 Gonzo Writer Thompson's Ashes Blast Off By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 9:47 a.m. ET WOODY CREEK, Colo. (AP) -- With a deafening boom, the ashes of Hunter S. Thompson were blown into the sky amid fireworks late Saturday as relatives and a star-studded crowd bid an irreverent farewell to the founder of ''gonzo journalism.'' As the ashes erupted from a tower, red, white, blue and green fireworks lit up the sky over Thompson's home near Aspen. ''I'll always remember where I was when Hunter was blown into the heavens,'' said Thompson's neighbor, Rita Sherman, who watched the spectacle from the deck of her house. The 15-story tower was modeled after Thompson's logo: a clenched fist, made symmetrical with two thumbs, rising from the hilt of a dagger. It was built between his home and a tree-covered canyon wall, not far from a tent filled with merrymakers. ''He loved explosions,'' explained his wife, Anita Thompson. The private celebration included actors Bill Murray and Johnny Depp, rock bands, blowup dolls and plenty of liquor to honor Thompson, who killed himself six months ago at the age of 67. Security guards kept reporters and the public away from the compound as the 250 invited guests arrived, but Thompson's fans scouted the surrounding hills for the best view of the celebration. ''We just threw a gallon of Wild Turkey in the back and headed west,'' said Kevin Coy of Chester, W.Va., who drove more than 1,500 miles with a friend in hopes of seeing the celebration. ''We came to pay our respects.'' Thompson fatally shot himself in his kitchen Feb. 20, apparently despondent over his declining health. The memorial, however, was planned as a party, with readings and scheduled performances by both Lyle Lovett and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The author's longtime illustrator, Ralph Steadman, and actor Sean Penn were on the invitation list, along with Depp, who portrayed Thompson in the 1998 movie version of ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream,'' perhaps the writer's best-known work. ''Over the last few months I've learned that he really touched people more deeply than I had realized,'' said Thompson's son, Juan. Thompson's longtime friend George Stranahan lamented the Hollywood-style production. ''I am pretty sure it isn't how Hunter would have done it,'' he said. ''But when your friends make a mistake you support them.'' Anita Thompson said Depp funded much of the celebration. ''We had talked a couple of times about his last wishes to be shot out of a cannon of his own design,'' Depp told The Associated Press last month. ''All I'm doing is trying to make sure his last wish comes true. I just want to send my pal out the way he wants to go out.'' Thompson is credited along with Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese with helping pioneer New Journalism -- he dubbed his version ''gonzo journalism'' -- in which the writer was an essential component of the story. He often portrayed himself as wildly intoxicated as he reported on figures such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. At the height of the Watergate era, he said Richard Nixon represented ''that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character.'' Besides the 1972 classic about Thompson's visit to Las Vegas -- in which the central character was a snarling, drug- and alcohol-crazed observer and participant -- he also wrote an expose on the Hell's Angels and ''Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72.'' The Kentucky-born writer also was the model for Garry Trudeau's balding ''Uncle Duke'' in the comic strip ''Doonesbury.'' In now-chic Aspen, Thompson was an eccentricity: He proudly fired his guns whenever he wanted, let peacocks have the run of the land and ran for sheriff in 1970 under the Freak Power Party banner. Composer David Amram, a friend of Thompson since the early 1960s, said Thompson had never expected to be successful taking on President Nixon during the Watergate era. ''He thought he would be banned or put on an enemies' list,'' he said. Thompson made himself the centerpiece of his stories ''to show that a regular person could be in the midst of the craziness of the time,'' Amram said. ''He was our historian.'' After his suicide, one close acquaintance suggested Thompson did not want old age to dictate the circumstances of his death. Anita Thompson said no suicide note was left.

Ah...Zorn does so many different things. He's got his Masada group, sounds like Ornette & klesmer. The Masada spin off groups like the Masada String Qt. The Masada Grps are quite accessible. His classical music, which from what I've heard, are pretty far out in 20th century music land. I like some of it, but there is so much to check out, I gave up long ago.