ABBA MANIA

Friday night it is ABBA MANIA time.
Great show with all of the original ABBA music!

Here's some youtube clips you might like. Just click on each one.


I HAVE A DREAM



SOS


GIMME! GIMME! GIMME!

Why Don't We Just Dance

Josh Turner

For all the dancing lady's I know.
(Just click below)

WHY DON'T WE JUST DANCE

I JUST NEED YOU NOW !!

Lady Antebellum

For that special lady. Are you her??
(Just click below)

I JUST "NEED YOU NOW"!!

STEVE MARTIN and the Steep Canyon Rangers

mark humphrey/AP

Entitled, " An Evening of Bluegrass & Banjo", Thursday night was the STEVE MARTIN Banjo show at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago. Steve and THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS played 15 Blue Grass songs alone with 3 encore songs, several from Steve's CD "The Crow". Steve added just enough humor between songs to really make this show move to quickly. The 1 hour 20 minute's was quite short (maybe not for continuous banjo music) and it really flew.

Steve opened saying his agent was upset when Steve told him he wanted to do a banjo tour. He went on to say that the group had been on the road for 3 weeks but was corrected by the Rangers who told him 3 days !!! HaHa!!

Steve was amazed that his suit pants butt never got wrinkled since the beginning of the tour and the plane ride and even while sitting in the dressing room. Steve explained, " I must have a HOT ASS". HaHa!!, good old Steve Martin humor!!

Now for the music. The Steep Canyon Rangers, a great blue grass group from North Carolina, provided hand clapping, foot stomping, music. You can check the Rangers out here:

STEEP CANYON RANGERS

The group is made up of Woody Platt (guitar and lead vocals), Nicky Sanders (Fiddle and harmony vocals), Mike Guggino (mandolin and harmany vocals), Graham Sharp (banjo and harmony vocals), and Charlie Humphrey III (bass and harmony vocals). Steve mentioned that Charlie's bass was also a refrigerator for the tour and later in the show Steve asked Charlie for a banana and Charlie opened a small hole in the back of the bass and pulled out a banana and gave it to Steve. Just plain funny !!!

Woody sang lead on "Daddy Played the Banjo" which is one of the songs on Steve's "The Crow" cd.

Steve sang his great children's hit "Late for School" and "Wally on the Run"

(also on the cd).

Steve's banjo playing ability was highlighted when he played "Clawhammer Medley". Here Steve was having a little trouble with his electronic tuning which he said also gets his email for him. Now isn't that typical STEVE humor!!!

Then the whole group joined in for "Calico Train" and "The Crow".

Two of the encore songs really get the audience rompin' and stompin'. One was "Orange Blossom Special" which Steve said he kept wondering why he hadn't written it until one morning he woke up and thought "I did write that, I think". More Martin Humor!

The other great one was his big movie hit song, "King Tut".

So here's an earlier video of "Orange Blossom Special".

Enjoy and check Nicky Sanders great job with the fiddle that got a standing ovation here at the Palace!!!

ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL - part 1

ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL - part 2

And then the show was over, just to short and it went by to fast !!!

STEVE KEEP THEM FINGERS MOVING !!!

INCREDIBLE !!!!

This video is almost unbelievable. Make sure your sound is turned on !!!
See how all the balls wind up in catcher cones.

This INCREDIBLE machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa.. Amazingly, 97% of the machines components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft, Iowa... Yes, farm equipment!!

It took the team 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but you can see it was WELL worth the effort. It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.
BELIEVE IT !!!!

You Got Whacked !

Here's a funny one and it has a little Tony Bennett background music !!

"You Got Whacked" Part 1

JERRY SEINFELD

photo Jim Cooper/AP

Have you ever laughed so hard tears rolled down your face and you couldn't stop laughing?? Well that is what happened to me at Jerry's show. My stomach still aches from laughter.
Now I have seen a lot of comedians in my life but Jerry Seinfeld is without a doubt the funniest guy I have ever seen !!!
His humor is untouchable.
He joked about kids, marriage, old people, medicine's, and to many other things that were just plain FUNNY.
Here's just one line from his show that I thought hits life right on the head, "did you know that marriage sucks and is great are close to being the same."
Think about it. He's right !!!

He went on to give another example of sucks and great, saying "did you ever buy an ice cream cone and have it drop on the ground, and you say, well thats sucks-----
just great." (sorry my description can't bring the same humor as Jerry's delivery)
Then he told about "the ads on TV for Cialis. You see a picture of a happy couple each sitting in their own hot tub, smiling and holding hands on top of a mountain. NOW WHO THE HELL HAS TWO HOT TUBS? And if I had to lug those cast iron things up that mountain I'd be to tired for sex too!!!"
"And then the warning, if your erection lasts longer than 4 hours see your doctor. I WONDER WHAT THE HELL HE'S GOING TO DO?" " If I had an erection lasting 4 hours I would see Alice, and Mary, and Elaine, and Sue, and Jennifer."

Jerry also told several jokes about his wife's Blackberry use and several jokes about his wife not liking "the tone of my voice".

He did several jokes about cell phones and their "dead zones", telling about how in the old days a kitchen wall phone had a cord on it and would only allow you to go so far because any further was a "dead zone".
And how the best feature the telephone company came up with was caller ID but then they invented caller ID block ! WHAT !!
And all us intelligent telephone people that made it *69. Ya, couldn't one telephone engineer say let's make it *68 or *70 nope got to be *69. Didn't any of these people go to junior high????




Ok, you know it was "TERIFFIC" so if you get a chance to see Jerry's standup routine, Don't miss it !!!!!!!!!!!!!

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH !!

OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH !!! PLEASE GIVE A LITTLE OR A LOT> AND DON'T FORGET PANCREATIC CANCER ALSO !!!!

Chicago Country Fest Day 2

(takes a while to load because of the many videos)
Ok Day 2 Highlights, first "The White Saddle Band".

Next "Special Consensus"

Next a really good group from Minnesota, it's "Geoff Elvee".

That was the last of my afternoon entertainment.

Now I was standing in line waiting to get into the Petrillo Music Shell and met 3 very nice ladies. We had things in common like 2 of them worked for the telephone company. One still works for AT&T and the other one used to work for them. Just Like ME !! Now the third lady was visiting from Phoenix and all 3 loved Country music too. So here's their picture, Judie on the left, Sue in the middle, and Dee (the visitor) on the right. Wow, we had a great time rocking to "The Flatlander's and John Rich.

Ok so much for socializing now on with "The Flatlanders" featuring Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock.

And now "John Rich" takes the stage!!

John then asked for a married couple to come up on stage, so this dude brings this girl on stage with him only to find out they don't even know each other !!

Then it was "Shuttin' Detroit Down"

And of course "Cowboy Troy".

"Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy"

And finally "Fred" the "Little Man Dirty Dancing"

The 2 Day Concert finally ends.

And as I was leaving Grant Park I see "Fred" riding his scooter with a young tomato (girl) sitting behind him. And I thought to myself, "O boy Fred is going to have fun tonight!"

Chicago Country Fest Day 1

So the day started out dry as I looked to the sky downtown I saw some dudes who found a job I wouldn't want. Look !!

Wow!! Couldn't pay me enough money to swing and wash windows like this !!
Ok now for the "WET" Chicago Country Fest Day 1.

First I got to show you my neighbors for the night. These dudes came without rain gear so he went and spent his food money for ponchos for the two of them!! I heard her say their pictures was not going into their scrapbook !! ISN'T LOVE GREAT !!!! GOOD LUCK YOU GUYS !!

Now here are a few pictures and videos of some of the activities that took place before the real downpour!!

Some Square Dance Lessons!!

Then the CMA Songwriters' Series featuring Lee Ann Womack, Bob DiPero, Dean Dillon and Scotty Emerick in the Americana Tent.

First up at 2 was Musikanto.

Lucky Town was good and got to play before the rains hit.

Rounding out the afternoon music was Southern Exposure and they "Rocked."

And a couple "Hotties" doing some dancin'.

And that ends the afternoon music.

Now a few fans that braved the rain.

Now comes "Jamey Johnson".

Then Jamey brought his sister on stage and sang to her. "In Color".

Now it's time for MIRANDA !!! Her opening song was a Credence Clearwater hit !!

The "WET" day comes to an end.