Happy Birthday, Brother!

Happy Birthday, Moon! Dillweed turns - forget it. It's nobody's business. If you wanna see more pictures of my only brother, JayBone (trying to get as many of his nicknames in this paragraph as I can), whom I love dearly, click on READ MORE! The shot above is Jerkbait at El Capitan State Park in Santa Barbara, from our camping trip in June 2008.

Monterey, Cali. June 2008.

Santa Barbara. June 2008.

Jason in Sequoia National Park. June 2008. Are those "orbs" floating around in that log?

Jas and I in Santa Barbara, June 2008.

Jas (bottom) and I (right) around 1970-71.

Walleye fishing in Lake Tomahawk, WI, May 2008 with family.

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Illinois ripe from scum.

I blogged earlier in the year on former Illinois scumbag, ex-governor Rod Blagojevich and the filth that is the face of Illinois politics.

Found this Chicago Tribune article from January 2008 that goes into detail on some of the more recent public officeholders who've conducted Illinois government business with their heads up their asses.

My solution: I don't really care about Illinois (remember, I'm from Wisconsin) but I have friends there. So I recommend get rid of Mayor Daley, fire every elected official, fire every appointed public official, flood the state and start from scratch.

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Jason Schwartzman. GQ's "stylish man"?

GQ states (March 2009) that their Top 10 "stylish men" aren't "royals, socialites or pretty-boy actors...just real men with real style."

Really? I don't know about you, but I don't see how this "look" is considered "stylish" by GQ standards, let alone be representative of Schwartzdrub being included in the Top 10 stylish among men in America. Looks like Schwartzdrub was late for the photoshoot and ransacked his laundry bag. Maybe I'm just outta touch with today's GQ. But I don't think so.

By the way, thespian Schwartnob's garb cost a total of $2,750 - without the vintage Adidas and Ray-Ban shades. I could've accomplished more with a quarter (or less) of that money at The Gap.

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Speaking of fashion, Calvin Klein's going for the "children of the damned" look.

Seriously. I wanna know who finds this look attractive.

Children of the Damned (1963). Oooooo...that girl's cutie.

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"Sanctuary Cities". It's not what you're thinking, Amigo.

From 9/11 Commission hearings:

COMMISSIONER JOHN LEHMAN: "Were you aware that it was the US government established policy not to question or oppose the sanctuary policies of New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, San Diego for political reasons, which policy in those cities prohibited the local police from cooperating at all with federal immigration authorities?"

CONDOLEEZA RICE: "I do not believe I was aware of that."


I'll get to "sanctuary cities" in a minute. The immigration problem in this country is out of control. I've blogged about this incessantly. It's not an issue of the immigrants themselves, but the sheer numbers that are here ILLEGALLY who are feeding off our country in the form of free medical/health care, food stamps/welfare and free college tuition (among other things). It's difficult to arrest someone who can't speak English; our K-12 classes are clogged with children who can't speak our language and are slowing the learning pace for those who can. And our country's economy is in piss-poor shape, yet we continue to help people who are in the U.S. illegally. Why? Blame Corporate America for their greed in hiring cheap labor. Blame our politicians for avoiding the issue because the problem has grown to gigantic proportions and they don't want to jeopardize their chances of re-election.

Illegal aliens waiting in work lines. Nice, huh? Click on READ MORE! to find out if
your town is near a "sanctuary city".

While researching the immigration cesspool of a problem in the U.S., I came across the term - "Sanctuary City". Never heard of it. Here's an article explaining what it means and a list of every sanctuary city in the U.S. Click on READ MORE! to hear more about "sanctuary cities" and how THIS AFFECTS YOU.

Let me summarize the article here. Despite a 1996 federal law [the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act ( IIRIRA ) that requires local governments to cooperate with Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), many large urban cities (and some small) have adopted so-called "sanctuary policies." Generally, sanctuary policies instruct city employees not to notify the federal government of the presence of illegal aliens living in their communities. The policies also end the distinction between legal and illegal immigration--so illegal aliens often benefit from city services too.

A formal sanctuary policy is a written policy that may have been passed by a local government body in the form of a resolution, ordinance, or administrative action--general or special orders, or departmental policies. Formal sanctuary cities are the easiest to identify because they put their sanctuary policies in writing, which become subject to public records requests. Maine, for instance, does this. So does San Francisco. Read the article I've attached. It'll blow your mind.

Among the cities confirmed as "sanctuary cities": Anchorage, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver, Miami, Chicago, Detroit Reno, Albuquerque, New York City, Dallas, Seattle, Madison and Washington, D.C. - ALL in violation of federal law. Can you believe there are people that still can't comprehend that our politicians, for the most part, are self-serving, greedy, arrogant motherfuckers. But WE elected them and they know what's best for their constituents, right?

Do something about it! Numbers USA is a grassroots organization the helps to inform you of the immigration issues that affect our country AND facilitates open communication through letters, faxes and phone calls to the politicians who are supposed to be representing YOUR interests on the state and federal level. And IT WORKS. Because of the mass number of people who have contacted their state congressmen and senators recently (myself being one of them) in Washington via NumbersUSA, the E-Verify provision is again up for debate before Congress and may once again be put back into the federal budget. Read my post from February 14 on Nancy Pelosi and E-Verify.

Listen - the anti-immigration movement is not anti-immigrants. If you can get through your head you're ahead of the game. It's about getting our government to deal with the illegal immigrations that are already here, to keep illegal immigrants from crossing our borders and to control the numbers of immigrants that allowed into our country through legal means. It's not a racist movement. If you believe that, your naivete is trumping your rationale sense of thought. You're paying to support illegal aliens in the U.S. whether you realize it or not through your tax dollars. This is fact. This is not conjecture. Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., told World Net Daily approximately 1 million households headed by illegal immigrants acquired mortgages through the beginning of 2007, before the housing bubble burst. AND these same illegal aliens could apply for mortgage relief.

"There is no legal prohibition against illegal immigrants owning homes," he said, "and in most cases mortgage lenders will accept a taxpayer ID or a Matricula Consular card issued by a Mexican Consulate office as identification to illegal immigrants from Mexico."

There's nothing against the law from prohibiting illegal aliens from getting a mortgage, getting health care, going to college, etc. Then why don't we just open our borders? Why are we putting up a wall if our government isn't enforcing its own laws? Get educated! And do it now before it's too late.

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Talk about an "afterbirth" - I mean, "an afterthought".

From FoxNews..."lackluster" seems quite the inappropriate adjective, doesn't it?

Gotta admit, even President Obama and his wife are tightening their belts during this harsh economic climate that we're facing, as evident in the gift-giving exchange between he and our greatest ally, Great Britain Prime Minister Gordan Brown.

"Hmmm...let me see. You're a shrewd ally, Prime Minister. I'll see your pen holder fashioned from the oak timber of HMS Gannet, a Navy vessel that served on anti-slavery missions off Africa; your framed commissioning paper for the HMS Resolute; your first edition, seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill; the outfits for our children from the British chain, Topshop, and the six children's books by British authors which have yet to be published in the U.S. AND raise you...hmmm...I'll raise you a set of 25 classic American films which you've probably seen and two toy helicopters modeled after Marine One that we got in the White House gift shop.

Your call, Prime Minister." W...T...F?

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March 24th is the two-year anniversary of PASSION = TRUTH...

...anyone planning anything special for me?

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My photo's in Tom Wait's Magical Trunk!

Not really. Tom Wait's Magical Trunk is an application on Facebook. The smaller picture below is the one from Wait's "magical trunk" that looks like mine.

The picture below is the one I took in Santa Barbara last year at a piano recital/concert.

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No public smoking. But we're gonna raise taxes on cigarettes so we can benefit from your addiction.

I laugh every time I read this sort of quote in the newspaper or online, "This is the kind of thing you should do no matter what, because it is going to lower health care costs," stated Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smokefree Wisconsin.

At the same time, Wisconsin - like so many other states - is proposing a 75 cent raise in cigarette taxes on top of the 61 cent federal cigarette tax increase - as reported in Tuesday's Wisconsin State Journal - so the state can profit off current smokers. Well...it doesn't say that but, in fact, that's what the state is doing. Sounds bizarre, doesn't it? We want a smoke-free state; we're concerned about second-hand smoke; we want you to quit, but while you're trying to quit we're going to take advantage of your smoking and tax the shit out of you so everyone else can profit from your addiction.

In an article from the Appleton Post-Crescent, "Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle is again pushing is statewide ban on smoking for 2009-2011," Busalacchi stated that even if the state-wide ban doesn't pass, there's a reasonable chance that more cities and communities will pass their own smoking bans. Fine. So why not just let individual cities determine the nature of their own smoking bans?

And the tricky thing about Governor Douche's, I mean, Doyle's proposed smoking ban this time around is that it is being "folded" into a document that directs state spending, so that opponents like the Tavern League of Wisconsin have less of an ability to influence the proposal when it's in the budget, bundled with other items.

The constant struggle of trying to placate one's constituents yet take your constituent's money in order to benefit the state must make it difficult for politicians like Doyle to sleep at night. Or maybe not. Non-smokers bitch about THEIR rights mostly when it concerns second-hand smoke and I see their point. But should smoker's rights be swept under the carpet? Segregate smokers to one corner or a separate room, or ban them altogether from bars and restaurants, shunned like lepers of society, yet reap monetary gain from their addictions? I'm curious where the money raised from taxing cigarettes goes. I understand Wisconsin paid out nearly $480 million in Medicaid costs last year related to smoking. OK - why can't taxes raised from cigarettes be earmarked to offset money paid out by Medicaid for smoking-related expenses as long as it is proven the expenses are DIRECTLY RELATED to smoking?

Smokers are told their sick because they knowingly pollute their body with tar and nicotine and other cancer-causing agents. Isn't taking advantage of a smoker's addiction just as sick?

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The Cowsills. Just keeping with my latest music kick.

Don't know why this particular photo of the family noted "Barry" and "Bill" - unless it was to denote which of the siblings had passed away. Anyway. as long as I've been blogging away about The Cowsills - found this shot of the family that I liked. Mom and Dad on the right. Susan blowing a bubble. Bob wearing his madra shirt proudly. Paul looking off in a "zone" and John looking dapper in his tennis and neck scarf.

The Cowsills rule!!

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Jeff from Wisconsin meet Jeff from Wisconsin.

Jeff Skiles (left) from Oregon, WI. Co-pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 that safely landed in the Hudson River in January. Jeff Ircink (right) - me - from Waterford, WI. Actor, playwright, blogger, amateur photog, bitcher, Beach Boy groupee, Brett Favre-lover, fisherman and bowhunter.

Anything I've ever done in my life up to this point is insignificant compared to what this man helped to do that January day in the sky above New York City.

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Illegal aliens have more rights than gay couples in the U.S.

Two members of the California Supreme Court - Chief Justice (let's call him "Frick") Ronald George and Justice Joyce "Frackette" Kennard - said they have deep skepticism toward the gay rights lawyers' arguments for killing Prop. 8 (right for gays to marry).

Skepticism for what? That two people in love wanna get hitched? Don't we have more pressing issues in this country than making a big hullabaloo that gays shouldn't be allowed to marry? I know - don't want the supreme court to have too much power now. 'Course that depends on what side you're on. Certainly women's rights proponents laud the supreme court for upholding their right to choose. And one could argue that since the voters in California chose to uphold Prop. 8, the right of the majority should prevail. But isn't part of the supreme court's duty to intercede when cooler heads aren't prevailing? Not to toss the biblical card in the fray, but didn't Jesus intercede and save the prostitute from being stoned when the majority thought differently?

Gays vote. Gays pay taxes and spend money. How can anyone, in the same breath, say gays have no right to marry, when illegal aliens in the U.S. have access to free health/medical care, welfare/food stamps, education from K-12 and free tuition for college?

As a heterosexual male, I believe in the rights of gay men and women to marry. I believe those against it are homophobic. And I believe the California Supreme Court is homophobic for not killing Prop. 8. And all the justices in favor of Prop. 8 are goatfuckers ("goatfuckery" is the actual word that my friend Jake uses but I needed to use the adj. form of the word).

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TGIF! BONER presents...The Cowsill's "The Park, The Rain and Other Things"!

FINALLY! You don't realize half the trouble I went through to post this video. First it wouldn't post on Blogger. Then it posted but the video was lying on its side on Imeem. Then rightside up but hazy on Imeem. Hazy on MySpace. Hazy on Facebook. On its side on Vimeo. I almost ended it all.

You remember this song, don't you? Like how I framed it in that late 60's/early 70's pukish orange? By the way, ALWAYS PAUSE THE JUKEBOX ABOVE WHEN you listen to videos, OK? From last Saturday night - The Cowsills at the Fox and Hounds Pub in Studio City. Bob Cowsill on lead vocals and John Cowsill drumming. This song appeared in Dumb & Dumber (they talk about it in the beginning). Listen for John's sound effects at the end - apparently he's quite the mimic. Did I mention that the entire night I was standing next to John's wife (we talked a bit) and I didn't know that SHE was Vicki Peterson, co-founder of The Bangles? Oh - and watch John's facial expressions around the 1:10 mark - not sure if he's serious or being sarcastic but he morphs for a second into his "drumming performance face" from the late 60's.

You can listen to a Cowsill song from 1998 in the post below and three posts below I have an entire story on The Cowsills with the "Hair" video I took. The Cowsills rule!

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TGIF! presents "Some Good Years", by The Cowsills.

I forgot to include this link in my Cowsills' story a couple posts down below. It was written by Bob Cowsill and appeared on The Cowsills' album, "Global" (1998). It's a retrospective, sort of, of their life. Couple things too look for - Susan dancing with Buddy Epsen at 2:35; Paul getting yelled at by Mom on The Mike Douglas Show at 3:02, and Susan with Dean Martin at 3:30. Great song. The Cowsills rule

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I believe that Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, James Brown and Lucille Ball are overrated.

I swear I'm gonna catch shit from my sis in Cedar Rapids, Janelle. She's not really my sister but as I don't have a sister and she doesn't have a brother, we call each other "sis" and "bro". She's an actor/singer as well. I think she's a fan of all four of the above - but I KNOW she loves Janis. Her mother, too.

I'm not taking anything away from their talents, persona's or "celebrity". I'm just saying that nothing about their talent floats my boat. Not even my bobber. I simply don't get the hubbub, bub. Never did. Zzzzzz....limp.

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Why do governors have offices in Washington, D.C.?

Governor Jim "Douche" Doyle of Wisconsin (my home state) has an office in Washington, D.C. for what I was told, "the purpose of furthering the interests of Wisconsin with the federal government". Something like that.

I'm in favor of any state wanting to be on good terms with Washington. But why does each state have to have its own office in Washington D.C.? How much money is that costing? You've got staff, utilities, rent, office supplies...multiply that by 50 and the costs add up. And how often are these governors in Washington, D.C. "doing business with the federal government" on behalf of their respective states? Can't they do business in someone's office, at lunch or in a hotel room? Or by phone, email, fax, or video conference. Governors spend the bulk of their time in their respective state capitals anyway - or they should (except deposed scum bag Rod Blagojevich who never spent time in the Illinois capital before he was impeached).

Let me repeat myself: Why does the governor have an office in Washington, D.C.? Just seems like more government waste during a time when we shouldn't be cutting back.

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Even a retired Favre gets the goats at FoxSports.com

Why is this even listed among FoxSports.com's list of Most Embarrassing Sports Records? FoxSports says part of this is due to Favre's longevity. Then they say he was a prolific passer, and "though he finished with 464 TD passes"...why bother? They also say he led the league 2x with INTs. Yeh - out of 18 seasons.

Seems they forgot to list Cy Young's pitching loss record (he also has the most wins) or Reggie Jackson's most strikeouts record. But this is Brett Favre, folks - and we all know FoxSports.com hates it when Favre succeeds. Why? 'Cause they only ever write about him when he fails at something.

Plus, I think it's presumptuous of FoxSports.com to assume all these records are "embarrassing". I don't think Favre is "embarrassed" by his INT record. Like I said earlier - goes with playing 18 years in the league. I think he'd rather not have thrown that many INTs. But is he "embarrassed" by it? I'm guessing "no".

Can I say it or will you? Douche bags.

(As an aside, I read recently that someone looked back at all the INTs Favre had and whoever did this counted 145 that were IN the hands of his receivers and DROPPED by his receivers.)

(Another aside, for those of you not as enlightened, Favre owns numerous NFL records, among them: Consecutive starts by a quarterback: 269 (291 including playoffs), Games started by a quarterback: 269 (291 including playoffs), Career regular-season victories by a starting quarterback: 169, Career passing touchdowns: 464, Career passing yards: 65,127, Career pass completions: 5,720, Career pass attempts: 9,280, Career games with at least three touchdowns: 65, and one of only two players to win 3 MVP awards. With all these and many more, I wouldn't be embarrassed if had the most INTs either.).

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"Let's give a big round of applause for...The Cowsills!"

The Cowsills - then...(top) John, Barry (bottom) Bill, Susan, Bob, Paul.

...and now. Well, maybe 4 or 5 years ago. (top) Paul, Bill, John, Bob (bottom) Susan, Barry, Richard (he didn't perform but was their road manager), and guitarist Robbie Scharf.

I've always loved The Cowsills. From 1966 - 1970, they toured the world and recorded a number of Top 10 hits. Let's see...1970? I was 6. Not quite old enough to tour myself. :) The Cowsills' rendition of the song, "Hair", is my favorite (even over the musical version and I'm a huge HAIR fan...performed in the show in 1995 - sans clothes). And not surprisingly, their version of "Hair" was a#2 Billboard hit for 13 weeks in 1969.

But one of the things I find most astonishing about The Cowsills is the whole "family" aspect of the band. 5 brothers, one sister and their mother. Dad managed the group and brother Rick was the road manager. Sound familiar? The Cowsills were supposed to be The Partridge Family, but you see, The Cowsills already had a mom that could sing, which begged the question, "What to do with Shirley Jones?" Jones was going nowhere. The Cowsills balked...and walked.

I had the good fortune of seeing Bob and John Cowsill (along with two additional guitarists - Robbie Scharf being one of them, and a keyboardist) perform at Fox and Hounds Pub in Studio City this past Saturday evening to a packed house. The video above is their performance of "Hair" - that's Bob on guitar in the foreground and John on drums. (Make sure you pause the jukebox above before you watch any of these videos). Good, eh? Go on YouTube and watch the original video they did for the song - interesting. If you're a fan of the group, click on READ MORE! If you've never heard of them, click on READ MORE! anyway and check'em out. I promise it'll be an interesting walk down Memory Lane.

Billy. My father was (is) a guitarist. Played in a group called, the Glen LaMar Trio in the late 50's, early 60's. Had a egg shell blue Fender Stratocaster that's worth a shitload of money but sold it for $200 back in the mid-70's (please don't bring it up to my dad if you see him). Music was important in our house, even though my brother and I never played an instrument. We both sang...I later got involved in theater - musical theater, firstly. Tenor/falsetto (my falsetto is very good and is the part John Cowsill sings). Anyway music was a big deal in our house. My father used to make my brother and I put on headphones, lay on the floor with a pillow and listen to the entire album "Days of Future Passed" by The Moody Blues as it spun on the stereo (remember those huge stereos that took up half a block?). We protested at first - I mean...the entire album? Dad told us to "shut up" - ee had to listen from start to finish 'cause it was a "concept album". We had no clue what he was talking about. But I'm glad we listened to him - and the record.

Paul. So it's no surprise that my brother and I were heavily influenced by the genres of music my parent's listened to. Dad graduated high school in 1956 and Mom in 1960. Beatles, Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, doo wop, 70's soul, The Four Seasons, Dion, Ricky Nelson, Gary Puckett, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Tom Jones, Spinners, Four Tops, Elvis, Supremes, Simon and Garfunkel, Bandstand, Soul Train. And my reverence for those groups remains.

Bob talks about the early days, "The family angle just evolved ... first Bill and me, then Bill me and Barry, then Bill, me, Barry and John, then Bill, me, Barry, John and Mom, then Bill, me, Barry, John, Mom and Paul, then later, me, Paul, John, Barry, Mom and Susan, then back to Bill, me, Barry and John (very briefly in the end) and then to me, Paul, John and Susan."

Bob. Harmony, in my opinion, is the cherry on top of a song, and can be mastered by many bands. But it's the family bands - The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, The Cowsills - that do it with such ease that it's almost impossible to tell one voice from another. Take the show Saturday night - Bob wasn't the lead in "Hair" - it was Bill, who was the group's lead singer. Bob sounded exactly like Bill. Paul sounds like Bill and Bob. As a matter of fact, one of the sons stated, "There are times when I can't even distinguish Bill from Bob. I guess that's how siblings are. My mom used to go through all of our names before she could identify the right kid on the phone." Which made watching Bob and John perform all the more richer - they sounded like their songs did on the radio.

Barry. Aside from their harmonies, the thing The Cowsills had a going for them right outta the gate was their "wholesome" image. But they had an edge to them - an irreverence that was sorta there but not, to me at least. Happy-go-lucky, but playful (even as adults). Go on YouTube and watch some of their videos. Watch Susan dance around like she's a 16-year-old...definitely a tad more mature than her age. And what "wholesome" family group performs on Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark television show? (Watch it here - it's worth it. Course they did perform the Gospel-ish "Two By Two" so...but it's funny to watch Hef and his girlfriend at the time, Barbie Benton, watching The Cowsills). There's another video on YouTube of Susan, Paul, John and Bob on The Joan Rivers' Show a number of years ago and the repartee that's exhibited between Rivers and the siblings was very dynamic. The Cowsills ran that interview.

I couldn't get the video loaded correctly of Bob and John singing, "The Park, The Rain and Other Things" so here's the family singing it on YouTube. And here's John (drums), Bob, Susan and Paul (keyboards) singing "Cross That Line" from their album Global, which came out in 1998.

John. The other thing that strikes me as significant about The Cowsills, and it's something that, to me, cements their place in Rock and Roll history, is THEY were the precursor band to the "bubblegum pop" phenomenon. Their first recorded song was in 1966. Wikipedia boasts that the best-known acts of bubblegum's golden era are 1910 Fruitgum Company (1967, "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy"), The Archies (1968, "Sugar, Sugar"), The Lemon Pipers (1968, "My Green Tambourine", and credited as being the first bubblegum No.1 hit and ushering in the bubblegum pop era, according to the book, Bubble Gum Music is the Naked Truth) and The Partridge Family (1970)." Now The Cowsills are mentioned in the Wiki article as being part of the "bubble gum" wave, but not given nearly the credit, I think, they deserve as one of the forerunners - if not the first. The Cowsills' "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" came out in 1967. Check the YouTube link for the original version (above) - it's got bubble gum written all over it.

Susan. The Cowsills' major hit singles include:

1. "The Rain, The Park, And Other Things"/"River Blue" (MGM-1967) US #2

2. "We Can Fly"/"A Time for Remembrance" (MGM-1968) US #21

3. "Indian Lake"/"Newspaper Blanket" (MGM-1968) US #10

4. "Poor Baby"/"Meet Me At The Wishing Well" (MGM-1968) US #44

5. "Hair"/"What Is Happy?" (MGM-1969) US #2.

Mom and Dad. They also recorded the theme for "Love, America-Style" during its first season. Now - 6 Facts about The Cowsills even Cowsill fans might not know:

1. The Cowsills hold more gold records than many of the current Hall of Famers inducted as performers.

2. Susan is the youngest rock performer to have a Top Ten hit.

3. John was part of the first American rock group to play in the Republic of China.

4. The Cowsills had the First Live Album to feature a Studio Track when In Concert featured “Hair”.

5. The Guestbooks on robinrecords.com and cowsill.com have posts from all 50 states, 19 foreign countries in six of the seven continents.

6. The Cowsills were the first of only 5 album covers done for rock bands by famous cartoonist Jack Davis.

7. The band’s true worth is illustrated by the fact that they were initially ‘discovered’ by Johnny Nash’s all black R&B label, JODA and they were ask to headline with future Hall of Famers’ Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and The Beach Boys before they had their first hit record at Soundblast ’66 in Yankee Stadium.

And you thought those "Got Milk?" ads began in 1993? Wrong. The Cowsills were the

poster family for sucking back that stuff.

Fast-forward to 2009 and the Fox and Hounds Pub in Studio City. EXCELLENT concert. The group played three sets in four hours and the time flew by. John, who has been touring with The Beach Boys for a number of years, blew my mind away with his drumming. Good drummers may be a dime a dozen, but I could tell by watching John that he's exceptional. There was just something about the nuances he displayed while playing that told me 'this guy's good'. Guess that's what you get when you've been performing since you were 9 or so.

I had a chance to talk to John during a break. Real nice guy. And what I didn't know (until a few days later) was that John's wife, Vicki, who I was standing next to the entire show and kept bumping her bum on accident, was Vicki Peterson of The Bangles. Blew my mind. I thought she looked familiar. Bob was nice too - when I asked him if I could videotape some of their songs, he said, "sure you can - go ahead...guess this means we'll have to sing in tune, huh?".

The Cowsill performed in various set-ups since breaking up in the early 70's. They still perform in various formations - that night it was Bob and John. Sometimes Susan joins them - who has her own solo career. Or Paul jumps in. Or Susan and Paul join them. Unfortunately Dad, Mom, Bill and Barry have since passed away (Barry in Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Bill in 2006). I think of my own family and losing a parent or sibling - particularly when you were close and worked together such as The Cowsills, has to be tough. But they carry on the tradition, as any Cowsill would.

If you like more information on the group, you can check out their Wikipedia entry, The Cowsills Web Page, or the Silver Threads site. And there's a bunch of old and current videos of The Cowsills on Youtube you can check out.

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I crossed something off my own "bucket list" today.

I call it, "Three Shades of Encino Man - 1978".

You know the movie, The Bucket List, about two terminally ill men who attempt to cross items of their wish list before they die. You've seen the books - 75, 101 or 2001 things to see and do before you die.

I just crossed another one of my list today. I'll tell you about it some time.

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"Where'd ya go Pop Culture Chick #6, the chick from the 90's group, Roxette...Marie Fredriksson?"

The chick from Roxette had two assets - she could sing and she was hot. She pranced around barefoot, singing her Swedish ass off as if she were subtly saying, "While I concentrate on getting these English lyrics correctly, I will be trying to seduce you from on stage. Yes?" She did (get the words right). And she did (seduce me - or at least make a 22-year-old Jeff Ircink want to sleep with her). I loved all their songs - "It Must Have Been Love" (from Pretty Woman), "Listen to Your Heart", "The Look" and "Dangerous." From 1986 through the early 1990's, Roxette had 6 top 10 US hits, and were considered royalty in the native Sweden. Still are.

Then on September 11, 2002 (notice the day), Marie fainted in her bathroom after jogging, hitting her head and receiving a concussion. Scans showed she had a malignant brain tumor. Given a 50/50 chance of surviving surgery, the tumor was successfully removed. After chemo and radiation, she's been given a clean bill of health. But it wasn't without some loss. Marie had some permanent damage to her brain - losing the ability to read and count - lost the vision in her right eye, and some loss of movement in her right side. In January 2003, Roxette were awarded the 'Royal Medal with Blue Ribbon' by King of Sweden Carl Gustaf XVI, one of the first public appearances Marie made since her surgery.

Roxette has never stopped performing. Just not as often. Marie sings with her husband and one of her new passions is painting - she has had exhibits around the world. I feel her pain, as we both have suffered loss of sight in one eye, and other injuries that have deeply affected us. I feel a kinship with those who are visually impaired. I can't explain it.

Here's a video of Marie singing live in December 2008. And if you'd like to get a little nostalgic, this video is Roxette singing "Listen to Your Heart" from 1989 (live). In case you had no clue, Marie is 49. I didn't mention her Roxette partner, Per Gessle, as this post series is about Pop Culture CHICKS - not guys. But he's doing well, too.

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Meet Britney at American Apparel. Yeahhh!, Britney!

One of AA's models. Photos are right off their website. I love their advertising philosophy approach, don't you? Take a look at my previous post on AA - American Apparel, Reverse Cowgirl and Sasha Grey.

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Dems fear one-sided, conservative talk radio. Solution? Create a new Fairness Doctrine?

"Talk radio in the balance", by Brian C. Anderson, appeared in today's issue of the Los Angeles Times.

I say "Nerts!" to that. Mainly because Democrat Nancy Pelosi is in favor of it (and you know how I feel about her). They forget that these conservative radio hosts and their programs aren't a debate where you have to present the other side's viewpoint. I agree with Anderson - the concept is unconstitutional. The 1st Amendment says "Congress shall make no law that abridges freedom of speech or the press".

'Course, we have laws on the books that prohibit people from entering and staying in the U.S. illegally and our government has ignored this issue in about 11 million instances.

In a related article (same edition of the LA Times) - "The tired war on Limbaugh".

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HUD shoots its WAD.

HUD Allocates More Than $10 Billion of Recovery Act Funding One Week After Bill Signing Wednesday, February 25, 2009

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today allocated nearly 75 percent of its funding, or $10.1 billion, made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act includes $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD, 75 percent of which was allocated to recipients today - only one week after President Obama signed the Act into law.

This - from the President's own website - Recovery.gov. Check it outand read the entire press release. How much you wanna bet that President Obama's newly appointed HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan, will be back asking for more money. Nice, isn't it? Just over a half billion of the $13 billion total allotted to HUD is going just to the Native American Indians. Or is it just "Native Americans"?

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Obama says college should be affordable for everyone. Should it?

“We need to put a college education within reach of every American. That's the best investment we can make in our future. I'll create a new and fully refundable tax credit worth $4,000 for tuition and fees every year, which will cover two-thirds of the tuition at the average public college or university. I'll also simplify the financial aid application process so that we don't have a million students who aren't applying for aid because it's too difficult. I will start by eliminating the current student aid form altogether - we'll use tax data instead.”
[Barack Obama, Reclaiming the American Dream Speech, Bettendorf, IA, 11/7/07]

The catch? The recipients of the $4,000 have to do a 100 hours of community work. Over a year's time. Now that's equal to $40 an hour. Tee hee. You've gotta be kidding me? I mean, at least give the plan some credence by creating the appearance that the student is really working for the money, huh? Try 500 hours of community work. That's $8 an hour...better than minimum wage, and it'll show the student is really sacrificing himself for his education. Or her education. Read about Obama's plan here.

My alumni center at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Do we really need to make college affordable for everyone? Making it part of the American Dream - something to shoot for, yeh. But that's different. Owning a home is part of the American Dream and we all know the sad, fucked up state of affairs that industry is in. Greed - by both the lender and the borrower. And the Democrats wanna help the assholes who lost their homes who shouldn't have signed the mortgage papers in the first place.

Do I believe everyone deserves the best education they can get? No, as a matter of fact. I think they should get the best education they can afford. I believe that today any education beyond high school is a privilege - not a right. And I don't think the government should be handing out free money to everyone and anyone - particularly in this day and age.

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1986 but I wasn't handed $4000 as President Obama is suggesting.

1. I come from a middle-class family. I received a $500 scholarship for graduating in the top 10% of my class. That's all the free money my hands touched. The rest was one loan. And I was in debt after graduating but I paid it off. "Best education"? No. Good? Yes. Would I have opted for Harvard? Sure. I got what my parent's could afford.

2. I worked for two years as an RA (resident assistant) which paid for my room and board.

3. I worked as a bartender for the student union my senior year. Learned to love green olives.

4. I graduated in 4 years. I didn't dick around. I took the classes that I needed, studied, partied and got out.

I'd like a new car. Should a new car be made affordable to me? It'll probably get better gas mileage than the one I'm driving and the environmentalists would eat that shit up. I need to get out of my current living situation. Why doesn't the government give me money toward an affordable one-bedroom apartment? It'll help me keep my peace-of-mind intact and I'll be able to get more writing done. The more plays I complete, the more work I'll have to submit for production and the more I can contribute to the arts in our country. The arts are big on Democrat's agendas.

I want, I want, I want. Two points, in particular, in Obama's plan that made me wince:

A. Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid. Why? I had to apply that way. If you can't fill out a 5-page, 127 question document, you shouldn't be attending college.

B. Help Students Become Aware of College Readiness. Another common reason that high school students decide not to attend college is that they discover they are unprepared for it in 12th grade. That's because the teachers are too busy teaching English to kids who can't speak it and the classrooms are too crowded. I know plenty of teachers. Overall, our K-12 educational system sucks.

If one can't afford a four-year college, try a technical college or a two-year college. Learn a trade. Join the military. Put it off until you can afford it. Go to school for a year than work for a year. Those options have always been available. They still there. Here's an idea - why don't individual states stop giving money to illegal aliens to attend college? Sounds like a brilliant fucking idea to me. That would free up additional monies for each state - free for students who are actual U.S. citizens. Two years ago in Wisconsin, for example, a Mexican advocacy group was bitching because the state was cutting funds it was giving to illegal aliens to attend college. Excuse me? "Cutting"? How about "NO MONEY PERIOD"? And in May last year, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and senate Democrats submitted budget proposals to provide in-state resident tuition to illegal aliens who attend UW system schools or technical colleges. I don't know if this was in addition to what was already being given illegal aliens, but the state assembly Republicans defeated this. I've been told by Kark Van Roy's office (State Assembly, 90th District, R-WI) that the Democrats and Doyle will be resubmitting their proposal again this year. Why - I haven't the slightest idea. But I've got a call in Doyle's office to find out.

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I plead the 5th.

Truth be told I did have a hand in this - in killing Katja. And I wish I hadn't.

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Wrapped in a churro, read what Mojo says about Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins, Dennis Wilson and POB!

I say that because the clipping I received from my buddy Nicko in CR (scratch and sniff below) from Mojo smelled like those Mexican desserts - churros. It was either the bubble mailer the CDs he burned for me came in or the Verbatim CDRs.

In December, I blogged about Rolling Stone's Reissue of the Year for 2008 went to Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue (POB). Dennis - co-founder and drummer of The Beach Boys who passed away in 1983 - originally released POB as his first solo album in 1977 to wide critical acclaim, proving Dennis was more than a boozer, womanizer, partier and surfer-dude-drummer.

The interview above from Mojo is with Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters. Hawkins had a big hand in finishing Dennis' Holy Man, a tune meant to be on Wilson's second solo album, Bambu, but was left unfinished (as was Bambu). Here's what Taylor Hawkins had to say about Dennis and POB.

Incidentally, here's some of the other reissues that made the RS list: #2 Bob Dylan's Tell Tale Signs, #7 Marvin Gaye's Here, My Dear #11 Little Willie John's Nineteen Sixty Six, #13 Willie Nelson's One Hell of A Ride, and #16 Gene Vincent's Million Shades of Blue.

:) - just can't keep those Beach Boys down, can ya?

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Hey...I saw Bob and John Cowsill in concert last night!

You remember The Cowsills in the late 60's? Listen - that's them singing right now (and the next tune as well). "Hair", "Love, America-Style", "The Park, the Rain and Other Things", "Indian Lake", "We Can Fly" and others turned this family of 5 brothers, one sister and their mother into a pop sensation (later, their music would be re-defined as "bubblegum"). Working on a blog post and videos from last night's show. Check back - it was EXCELLENT!!!

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