Norway's National Theatre and Hedda Gabler

It was an impulse thing. The opportunity to go see Hedda Gabler performed by  Norway's National Theatre at the Kennedy Center came my way. It was another cultural experience for me. I didn't have to review it and it simply became a date night. My Mom is Swedish so I could use all the Scandinavian culture I can get.

I must admit I expected the production to be in English. It is the American that is prominent in me. However, as I thought about it I am glad it was in Norwegian. English speaking musicians and other performing artists go all over the world and perform in English, why shouldn't they be able to come hear in perform in their native tongue. It was the second performance in a year I have seen in a foreign language, though it didn't feel as exotic as the Burmese concert.

The actors performed well. I was happy for the subtitles, but they were late and missed a line or too. Plus I didn't stare at it and missed some of the dialog. The Washington Post didn't care for it, but Peter Marks did have some valid points. You can read his review here. I liked it more than him, but I wasn't blown away by it. My review wouldn't have been a review. However, I give them props for performing it and doing the Henrik Ibsen play their way. The academic crowd same to rave about it in the Q&A afterwords. So, I guess everyone perceives things in different ways.

Some little things I noticed. The charecters alll stayed around the stage even when they weren't in the scene. I thought that was strange. I liked the homorous introductions before hand and the simple lift the curtain start. It ewas one of Norway's Top Theatre Companies performing the work of one of Norway's and the World's famous playwright.

Below is a trailer for a film version of the play,,

I'll be back with another post soon on something I review...

College Basketball

Well I have limited thecollege  basketball posts to just two this month. Though the coolest part of the season is about to start. First the conference tournaments and then the NIT and the Big Dance, the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia Tech

Well I have three recaps for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets since my last update.

First Georgia Tech beat the Virginia Tech Hokies 64-54. You can read my recap here. Below are some highlights from that game...

The other two games I recapped for the Yellow Jackets did not go their way. Starting with..

North Carolina Tar Heels 72 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 70-58. My recap is here. I found highlights for that game as well..

Then the Virginia Cavaliers crushed them 82-54. You can read my recap of that beat down here. Well, I was lucky enough to find highlights for all three games.

Florida Gators

Moving to another conference for another team. I have four recaps from the Florida Gators.

First the Gators crushed Mississippi State 83-58. You can read my recap here. I have highlights below..

Next the Gators beat the Kentucky Wildcats in a battle of SEC powers. You can read my recap here. Highlights from that game are below...

Then the Gators were upset by the Missouri Tigers. I cover the wins and losses. You can read that recap here. I have highlights for that game here...

Then the Gators bounced back and beat Arkansas to avenge an earlier loss. You can find out all about it here. Here are some highlights from that game..

I will be back next month with some more basketball posts. I will be back later with posts about..

R.I.P. Dan Toler

Dan Toler was a great Southern Rock guitarists. In the late 70s he was the guitarist for Dickey Betts and Great Southern before he joined the Allman Brothers Band from 1979-1982. He was the guitarist for Gregg Allman during the 80's and is featured on the album "I'm No Angel," the title track is a song I like a lot. He was also on "Just Before the Bullets Fly." In the 2000's he worked with a few all-star jams. 

Unfortunately for us, he has left this world to  jam in Rock and Roll heaven. He passed away on February 25 losing hius battle to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. He will be missed by his family and fans.

Thanks for his publicist, Mark Pucci, for sending me info used in this post. LEt me find some jams to celebrate his musical legacy.

Here Dan and friends perform "I'm No Angel"...

"One Way Out" with Dickey Betts...

Here he performs "Messin' with the Kid"

R.I.P Dan Toler

Happy Birthday George Harrison

Today would have been George Harrison's 70th birthday. He was the one Beatle that was still alive when I was able to drive that I did not get to see in concert. George didn;t help to much by not touring often. His album "Cloud Nine" grabbed me more than any of the other Beatles' solo stuff. Perhaps a bit of that was due to Jeff Lynne. Perhaps he was a bit cooler in my mind working with The Traveling Wilburys or his friendship with Eric Clapton. Maybe it was as simple as he was in one of the greatest rock bands The Beatles and he was a talented songwriter. Either way, I am a fan of his music. Cancer robbed the world of a great musician too soon. 

Here is an All-Star version of "As My Guitar Gently Weeps" from 1987 with Elton John, Ringo, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and more...

George Harrison performing "Something" from a concert in 1992..

Here he performs a song "When We We're Fab"

Happy Birthday and we miss George!

The Smithereens

Okay everyone in my house is getting sick so it has slowed me down a bit. Anyway here is my review of The Smithereens concert at The State Theatre in Falls Chuch, Virginialast week. It was a great show the band played all their hits and losts of deep tracks. They played for over two hours and played over 30 songs. The hits were great moments of late 80s early 90s rock. Can you believe a band from that era with no keyboards?

I did add a video on the review of the band perfroming a song a couple of days before the show I reviewed. Since I like adding more stuff in my blog I will add a few more songs here.

Here the band performs "Behind a wall of Sleep" at the same venue but from a show in 2011...

Here they perform "The House We Used To Live In" from 2012 so I think this is from the same tour...

Well, I will be back with a new post soon! Until then enjoy!

Kevin Ayers of the Soft Machine R.I. P

Ironically, I was at a show the other day that had classic rck videos showing before the main group came out. Among the footage was videos by The Soft Machine, founded by Kevin Ayers who was mainly a vocalist and bassist in the group though he also played guitars.He passed away today at the age of 68.

Here they perform "I Should have known"

He had a solo vccareer as well which actually lasted longer than The Soft Machine.Here he performs "Shouting in a Bucket Blues"

Here he is in an interview...

May he R.I.P I will be back with a new post soon

Arlo Guthrie

It has probably been about 20 years ago since the last tme I saw Arlo Guthrie in cncert. I had the opportunity to see him Sunday night at the wonderful Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas. The venue is part of George Mason's Loudoun County campus and it is a intimate, state of the art venue that has amazing sound! The show had Arlo performing alot more songs by his Dad, Woodie, which was to be expected since the tour was celebrating Woodie's 100th Birthday. It was the first time I have seen Arlo Guthrie perform solo without a band. He turned out an incredible set in the intimate venue and you can read my review here. It must be the season for Guthrie, since I was able to review an awesome play about Woody Guthrie called Woody Sez and you can read that review here if you like.It is neat sometimes when cnnections occur between the different things I review.

Here is the video for "Deportee" one of many songs he played Sunday night..

Here he recites a poem...

Check out my review for a few more songs! I will back again with a new post stay tuned!

Troubled Country Singer Mindy McCready Dies

37 is two young too die. However, Cindy McCready had more than her fair share of troubles. Unfortunately trouble does not follow the ideology of fairness. Recently her boyfriend who she called her soul mate, and the mother of her youngest child killed himself. That is a lot to bare. She also had problems with alcohol and drugs at time which resulted in family and legal troubles. It is a lot for anyone. Unfortunately it was too much for her and early reports  say she committed suicide. I feel for her children, family and love ones.

Like many posts I do about people who die I usually find songs so we can celebrate their musical legacy.

Her number one hit "Guys Do It all The Time"

Another top 10 hit "A Girls Gotta Do"

and another top 10 hit.."Ten Thousand Angels"

May she finally find peace. R.I.P. Mindy McCready

Kids Say the Darnest Things

There used to be a show call Kids Say the Darndest things. Here is link of Bill Cosby..

I am a nostolgic mood lately, my last post I put in a cllip to a radio how. Now the radio show was a quite a bit before my time. However, I was thinking about Kids Say The Darndest things because of my 5 year old daughter.

She said "Bandit (our indoor cat) and Patches(our outdoor cat) should get married and have kittens."
I told her "They can't have kittens Bandit is fixed"
She said "Does Bandit need batteries"

Just a little kid himor..

The Glass Menagerie at the MET

Theatre fans I am back! I have my second review f the year. This time at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (AKA the MET) in Frederick, Maryland for The Glass Menagerie. They have an incredible cast who really shine in this play. They also have an interesting set. You can read what I had to say about the play here. If you want to go see sme fine acting, in a small intimate studio theatre I would recomend this one.

Here is a clip from the World Premiere Radio Broadcast of the play...

I picked that since the last play I reviewed there was A Wonderful Life done as a Radio Show. Sometimes I connect the dots. Well I will be back with a new post soon! 

Happy Birthday Ray Manzarek

Ray Manzarek will always be known as the keyboardist for The Doors. Today was his 74th Birthday. He is also a writer. He wrote a bio about his time with The Doors and he has written two novels. He has continued to be a musician touring with Robbie Krieger also of The Doors, releasing solo albums, and working with a group called Nite City. He also did a blues album with Roy Rogers. Let's break on trough to a new year celebrating some of his past music.

Here he performs a solo song called "Solar Boat"

Here he performs "Hurricane" with Roy Rogers...

Here he performs "Light My Fire" with Robbie Krieger..

Here are The Doors performing on "Touch Me" on the Smothers Brothers Show..

I'll be back with a new post soon! 

Good Reads

Just wondering if anyone uses the site Goodreads? I played a round a bit in it tonight. You can set a challenge for the number of books you want to read this tear. I set mine for 36 which is ambitious for me. I am off to a good start so far but I know life puts some interesting turns in there.

It also looks like a good place to track what you have already read. Here is a link to the site.

January Reads 2: The Music Bios

As you can tell I am a big music fan. I write about, blog abut, go to a ton of shows. I also read about it. Since I am I a reading frenzy in 2013 I will share which two I read in January.

First I read Clapton by Eric Clapton. 

Well I liked hearing about the musician in his own words. However, I felt like dismissed a lot of his career as being an addict. However,he did have some great moments musically in the 60s, 70s, 80s...

I did like hearing about his family life and how he dealt with his son's death. How his new life is going. Good read but felt it could be better if it didn't come off so dismissive on most of his best work. 

Jimi Hendrix: The Intimate Story of a Betrayed Musical Legend by Sharon Lawrence

I liked this book more than Scuse Me While I kiss the Sky, but I think it is a time thing. I read the latter when I was a young, so the sex, drugs, rock and roll stories were more interesting to me. Now I am older and gray. So it is more about the music and the person which Sharon gives more about. It was also neat to read the story from someone who new Hendrix. A little long on the after Hendrix legacy but quite interesting.

Well I just started to read my first music bio of this month so a new post on related books might be coming soon stay tuned!

College Hoops Update!

We are inching closer to March Madness! The best part of the college basketball season. It has been about three weeks or so since I shared my recaps on college basketball. I will do that now since my weekend is going to be crazy busy (which means cool things to blog about soon!)

Georgia Tech

I'll start with there loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels. As poorly as ACC play has gone for the Yellow Jackets this game was not a surprise. You can read my recap here. Highlights below..

Then there was Georgia Tech's first ACC win over Wake Forest. They won with authority and you can read my recap here. More highlights below..

I did miss to recaps Georgia Tech lost both games one was to FSU. However, I did recap their win over Virginia. You can read that here.

Florida Gators

Switching gears to a team that wins more. First the Gators beat their rivals the Georgia Bulldogs again. You can read the recap here. Here are some highlights..

Then the gators rolled past some more Bulldogs, this time Mississippi State. The recap is here. Then the Gators shut down South Carolina you can read that recap here.

No luck on highlights n those games. Then the Gators beat then #16 Mississippi you can read about it here. Below are some highlights.

The Gators luck ran out in Arkansas. You can read about the Razorbacks big upset here. Highlights below..

Well there are the recaps I have written since last time. I will have some more up soon and I will blog later this month as we get ready for the Tournaments.

Happy Birthday WVU!

Happy 146th Birthday to West Virginia University. Blogging about one of the homestate schools today. The Mountaineers have made Morgantown one of the top cultural cities in the state. Today's blog is all about the Blue and Gold..

Here is a video of their famous band....

Here are football highlights from the 2011-2012 season where they went to the Orange Bowl...

Basketball highlights from 2010 when they won the Big East..

Here is a video about A Day in the Life of A Mountaineer...

Here is a recruitment video from 2010...

Well here is to a bright future..Lets Go Eers!

Happy Birthday Bob Marley!

I was going to blog about something else, but it is Bob Marley's birthday today. I want to celebrate the positive vibe of his legacy. I love his positive music and I enjoy reggae music. I never had the chance to see Bob Marley in concert. This past year I was able to see The Wailers and I watched his son Stephen Marley at Wanee the year before. I blogged about him last year on his birthday, you can read that here.I have some videos there. Let's celebrate the music I will post different videos on this one.

In honor of Black History month and Bob let me start it off with this tune...

One Love...

I added a couple of covers last year I will do the same this year.

Stephen Marley..here is a bit of Natural Mystic

Lauryn Hill "Could You Be Loved"

and here a vintage 50 minutes clip (Austrailia)

R.I.P. Reg Presley

Cancer claimed another Rocker yesterday when Reg Presley died at the age of 71. He was born Reg Ball. The name might not sound familiar but I guarantee you will recognize his voice.

He was in a group called The Troggs and their most famous song was "Wild Thing"

I could do a hold blogs of other artists covering that song but I will save that for another post perhaps. I will share some of the bands other songs as well to give him a proper tribute.

Here's "With A Girl Like You"

and "Love Is All Around"

He contributed a lot to rock and roll and I am sure he will be missed by his family and love ones. R.I.P.

Super Bowl Thoughts

Power Outage:

The lights should never go out during a Super Bowl. Here is the most thought provoking post I have seen on the subject. It kind of puts it all in perspective...



Ray Lewis

What a fitting way for Ray Lewis to end his career with a Super Bowl ring. He was an incredible linebacker for 18 seasons.

Joe Flacco

We have all heard this debate before, is he an elite quarterback? We heard this with Eli Manning before he won a Super Bowl. To start with any starting quarterback in the NFL is an elite quarterback at some level, since their are only 32 teams so 32 starting quarterbacks. That would include some we love to criticize or wish performed better. However, there are some things that help a quarterback out such as better offensive lines, a solid running game, and talented receivers. Joe will be better respected now since he lead a team to a Super Bowl Championship.The win and the MVP Award certainly help. Is he at a Tom Brady level or Peyton Manning level? Time will sort that out, I don't think he is quite there yet but I think he up there with the likes of Eli Manning and one of the better quarterbacks of the 32.

Congrats to the Ravens

Congrats to the Baltimore Ravens for winning their second Super Bowl. They had a great run through the playoffs. At 10-6 I did not think they were going to win the Super Bowl but they did and they deserve a lot of credit. They dominated the first half. They lost momentum after the power outage but they were able to hold of the 49ers.

The Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour 55th Anniversary Celebration concert

I knew I hadn't been to a concert in January I didn't realize I hadn't been to one in nearly two months. Well I picked a great one to go to on Friday at the Kennedy Center! It was called the The Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour 55^th Anniversary Celebration concert. Featuring the vocals of the incredible Dee Dee Bridgewater and bassist extradonaire Christian McBride. Both of those talented musicians have won three Grammy Awards.

Here is Dee Dee in action singing "Bye Bye Blackbird"

Here is Christian McBride..

If that wasn't enough they had Benny Green on piano...

Drummer Lewis Nash who was outstanding specially with the brushes...

Then they added saxophonist Chris Potter, who has been Grammy nominated...here he is performing "Work"

It was rounded out with trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire...

When you put all these musicians together and they went on stage and had fun together the results were incredible. You can read my review here. 

Stayed tune I will be back soon with more. I haave at least a play and a concert confirmed this month. I am waiting for a few more that are up in the air.

January Reads: A Deadly Silver Sea

I mentioned before in my coming attractions I have been reading more. When I end up reading a lot I sometimes blog about what I have read. However, that seized when I wasn't really reading. Like I confessed before I am a manic reader.


Well I finally read the Bob Morris novel A Deadly Silver Sea. 

What can I say he hooked me in to his Zach Chasteen series of tropical adventure mysteries with his award winning first novel Bahamarama. Now I need to read his latest one Baja Florida. But my taste in tropical adventures run from Ernest Hemingway to Jimmy Buffett, and Peter Benchley so he kind of fits in well. \all of his books are well researched and I enjoy reading them.

This one our hero finds himself in a bad place when his pregnant wife and him go on a cruise ship which is taken over by terrorists. Rescues, explosions, danger on the high seas what is not to like?