Tim McG

Different system here in America. The property tax may be higher here but, as I understand it, the income tax is higher in England. Additionally, the government pays for fewer social welfare programs than in the UK. BTW, we are taxed in California by the value of the home, not by the square foot; that would be commercial taxes for a business. In short, you may see a spike in property taxes [largely depending on where you live; not all homes are taxed at the same rate relative to locale], but the trade off would be in the income tax. As an example, if I could somehow move my house to San Diego, Orange or Marin [in NorCal] County, it could be worth $900,000 dollars or more. As it is, it would sell for $350,000 here in the Central part of the state. Ergo, the taxes are far lower.

[ahem] If I may... As the resident Native Californian on this BBS I might be of some service here. First of all, San Diego is mighty pricey as is the San Francisco Bay Area. If you want close access to the California Coast, be prepared to shell out some serious cash. Nothing is a bargain, South state to North state. Now if you don't mind driving some to get to the ocean, I'd suggest taking a look much further inland. And run screaming away from Oceanside unless you like living with military personnel and their families. Murrieta is the same. California is a huge state and there are many lower priced areas to buy a home, but may mean living in the Central part of the state. No ocean, but beautiful mountains. As was already mentioned, find a realtor who knows what he/she is doing and not one so hot for a sale that they will take advantage of you. I've had good luck with Century 21, but there again...ask questions and get to know the realtor's motives. Good luck! FWIW.

Good game last night, I thought. The BoSox are hitting on all cylinders right now, but we see what happens in Coors Feild. Rockies have been known to launch, oh....one or two come-backs there.

Rob Schneider Rob Zombie Robbie Shakespeare

It shouldn't. My point went to disgust not to surprise.

A little early for these types of dire predictions, doncha think? Good point, in that they mentioned a painful memory for braves fans on espn last night. In 1996, we faced the Yankees, and won 12-1 in game one, and won game 2, 4-0....In Yankee stadium!!! So, clearly, the Braves won their 2nd straight WS, right? No, Yankees won 3 straight in Atlanta, and won game 6 back in Yankee stadium...so, one never knows, does one????? Exactly. The Rockies aren't finished just yet. As I said before, the Rocks have the hitting and Sox have the pitching. I think this will be going at least six games.

I had a bell for a neighbor when I lived on campus during my college days.

Got any #s on what % of that same generation went Yuppie, not to say voted for Reagan, Bush, & Bush? Myself, I'm a Boomer, and I got over it a loooong time ago. Not sure what you're meaning here, but there were plenty of conservatives and money grubbers in the Boomer Generation. Why should that surprise anyone?

I really think you're wrong there. That music was hyped as being not commercial in the sixties by the Clive Davises and Ahmet Erteguns of the world but what was happening was that, for the first time, hit albums were routinely outselling hit singles, basically because your generation had loadsamoney. Because of a slight historical disconnect (partly because so many of the big selling albums of the fifties and early sixties were jazz or jazz-related like Sinatra's), it was possible to persuade people (including the members of the new bands) that only singles were commercial. So a whole generation of kids believed that these bands were, in some way, anti-commercial, anti-establishment. But that had nothing to do with reality, which was that the moguls were making huge bucks out of supposedly non-commercial music. MG You may want to do a little research, MG.... First of all, this music was, in fact, anti-establishment, protest oriented, anti-war and pro free speech music. It was not at all written to be used as pop ditties for selling soap and whatnot. Secondly, if you seriously believe that paying $2-4 bucks for a record is the same as My Generation [read the lyrics of this tune, OK?] having "loadsamoney" then there is something dreadfully wrong with your thinking here. Lastly, the commercial business side of selling music/albums/concerts/radio air time to listeners/advertisers in order for the bands to make a living has absolutely nothing at all to do with the use of it on car commercials today. You apparently confuse the true nature of the songs and the value they had for us in the various struggles mentioned above with making money for the people who created it. Not the same thing....ain't even close, MG. Now if you are suggesting the Bubblegum Pop and later the Glitter Rock and Disco bullshit of the late 70s is commercial and therefore something nobody should complain about if it appears on TV commercials, then you would be right. Canned Heat [same All Over], Led Zeppelin [Rock and Roll], Buffalo Springfield [For What It's Worth], The Chambers Brothers [Time Has Come Today], O'Jays [Money] or Steppenwolf [born to be Wild], etc are not at all equatable with those venues at all and have no business being used on a TV commercial. The message in the lyrics [Led Zep being the least edgy, but surely not appropriate for a luxury vehicle] is being washed over in favor of a sound recognition/nostalgia teaser to get you to listen to the commercial. That is total bullshit and an insult to those of us who lived in those tumultuous times. That is what I object to. I think I might, just, agree with you, if you were talking about making ads out of Gil Scott-Heron's "The revolution will not be televised" or "Home is where the hatred is", or the Last Poets' "Run nigger" or "Niggers are scared of Revolution". But you're not, are you? MG Only if you discount the free speech movement, the anti-war movement and social change. Not everything important is tied into race, MG.

Active fires in SoCal:

Got a call back from my best friend last night. He could see the flames of the Santiago Canyon fire shooting up over a ridge not three blocks away from his place. He was told to evacuate at a moment's notice, but fortunately, the winds shifted and the fire came no closer.

A little early for these types of dire predictions, doncha think?

Sure, after he flipped off the SF fans at a game then called them all "faggots" Tavarez' stock went straight into the dumper. Besides, he has a history of doing this sort of thing, Noj. To wit: Tavarez' Tantrums He's a jackass and doesn't deserve the privledge of playing in a WS game.

I really think you're wrong there. That music was hyped as being not commercial in the sixties by the Clive Davises and Ahmet Erteguns of the world but what was happening was that, for the first time, hit albums were routinely outselling hit singles, basically because your generation had loadsamoney. Because of a slight historical disconnect (partly because so many of the big selling albums of the fifties and early sixties were jazz or jazz-related like Sinatra's), it was possible to persuade people (including the members of the new bands) that only singles were commercial. So a whole generation of kids believed that these bands were, in some way, anti-commercial, anti-establishment. But that had nothing to do with reality, which was that the moguls were making huge bucks out of supposedly non-commercial music. MG You may want to do a little research, MG.... First of all, this music was, in fact, anti-establishment, protest oriented, anti-war and pro free speech music. It was not at all written to be used as pop ditties for selling soap and whatnot. Secondly, if you seriously believe that paying $2-4 bucks for a record is the same as My Generation [read the lyrics of this tune, OK?] having "loadsamoney" then there is something dreadfully wrong with your thinking here. Lastly, the commercial business side of selling music/albums/concerts/radio air time to listeners/advertisers in order for the bands to make a living has absolutely nothing at all to do with the use of it on car commercials today. You apparently confuse the true nature of the songs and the value they had for us in the various struggles mentioned above with making money for the people who created it. Not the same thing....ain't even close, MG. Now if you are suggesting the Bubblegum Pop and later the Glitter Rock and Disco bullshit of the late 70s is commercial and therefore something nobody should complain about if it appears on TV commercials, then you would be right. Canned Heat [same All Over], Led Zeppelin [Rock and Roll], Buffalo Springfield [For What It's Worth], The Chambers Brothers [Time Has Come Today], O'Jays [Money] or Steppenwolf [born to be Wild], etc are not at all equatable with those venues at all and have no business being used on a TV commercial. The message in the lyrics [Led Zep being the least edgy, but surely not appropriate for a luxury vehicle] is being washed over in favor of a sound recognition/nostalgia teaser to get you to listen to the commercial. That is total bullshit and an insult to those of us who lived in those tumultuous times. That is what I object to.

Indeed. Smokey the Bear has a lot to answer for. You bet he does. We should be promoting forest fires, not preventing them. Damn that bear.

Who does? Julian Tavarez is a horse's ass and a certifiable nutburger. Gagne has playoff experience. Makes more sense. Good call on Francona's part, IMHO.

Dude - wake up. We are them now. I never fought in WWII...did you? No, and my dad never fought in WWI. This shit is not "cool" again. It's simply being repackaged to sell us back to ourselves. If it makes you or anybody else feel somehow "vindicated", go for it. But we are The Establishment now, and today's young people think we're just as out of it as we thought our folks were. Stuff like this leads me to believe they're right. My did fight in WWII. And you would be wrong. This music was never intended to be fodder for cereal and car commercials....but the 30-somethings in charge of marketing have sold the buttheads in the CEO's office that it sells merchandise. They sold us out. Gen-X sucks.

It was. My mistake. What I Like About You

Let's Work Together

Sorry, Man. Shoulda gone with my advice.

More Canned Heat Elavator Music

Dude - wake up. We are them now. I never fought in WWII...did you?

Of course, you would be kidding. On The Road Again

My brother sent me this from his backyard: I'd make it larger, but this BBS has some weird issue with "dynamic images" even though it appears on my personal website. Go figure.

You know, as an old guy [53 coming up] I am continually amazed by the use of tunes from my youth which were constantly degraded as "that damned hippie music" by people of that big, bad Great Generation [fucking hypocrites]. I mean, we are all real god-dammed grateful for their sacrifice during WWII [praise...Jeee-sus] and all of the Constitutional rights grab by their modern right-wing republican toadies who wipe their collective asses every time they bend over. Thank you, thank you, thank you already. GEEZ. But I digress. What really amazes me is how corporate America has decided to use that same music in their commercials now. The WWII veterans must be having a collective heart seizure. Kellogg's: On the Road Again Others: Same All Over has been used several times over the past few years. Hotel chain: Even What I Like about You by the Rommantics is cool. 60s and 70s music is hip again.