20 years of Jacksonville Jaguars Football

Twenty years ago the Bold New City of the South, Jacksonville was awarded an NFL franchise. Te team didn't start playing until 1995. 10 years prior to the city being awarded a team of their own my family left Jacksonville for Maine. I remember seeing Jacksonville Sharks of The World Football League in the Gator Bowl.

In visits since we left Jacksonville I went to an exhibition game between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons in the Gator Bowl.Then during one of the Jaguars better seasons I came down and watched a Jaguars game in person. It was a Sunday night game against the Bengals.

Here is an article I wrote which managed it's way onto Yahoo Sports which covered the history of the Jaguars from 1995 through the 2009 season. Here is a smaller article about how the team became the Jaguars.

Yes the Jacksonville is suffering through a dismal season, and haven't had a winning season since 2007. They did have a .500 season in 2010. Still they have a new coach, a new owner, and new plans for the years a head. Here is a cheer for the first 20 years and I am looking forward to the next 20. 

Celebrating George Harrison

Perhaps George Harrison's solo career did not match that of his former Beatles band mates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Maybe George doesn't grab attention like Ringo Starr. None the less, George Harrison did have a solid solo career despite his lack of touring. Harrison was also an important member of the Fab Four. Today marks 12 years since the guitarist passed away.

All things Must Pass including George..

Here is one great rythym guitarist talking about another. Keith Richards on George Harrison..

Hopefully he found "Cloud Nine"

I bet his guitar still "Gently Weeps"

A true song of hope..

We all remember when he was fab...

He is missed. what George songs do you like?

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

I am thankful a friend invited me to eat with his family. It was really kind especially since I couldn't be with my family.

Anyway I made a wrong turn on the way to my friend's house. A turn to soon using the navigator. As fate had it I came up to red light an there were some people in a black Mercedes SUV talking to a homeless man. They gave him a full meal and a clean shirt.

The two events taught me a lot about what Thanksgiving should be about.

On the subject of the meal it was delightful. Started out with a nice glass of wine. Probably the best tasting white wine I have ever had. Not saying much since I rarely drink wine. A meal with turkey, potatoes, garden fresh vegetables, squash from the same garden, stuffing, and rolls. I guess you could call it the works. It went by fast, since work was on tapped.

That's my holiday yours?

Happy Birthday Jimi Hendrix

Yes I celebrate Jimi Hendrix on my blog when I have the chance. I mark his death and birthday. Today Jimi Hendrix would have been 71. To celebrate his birthday I offer up Hendrix performing covers. I know I am only going to share a handful so if you have a favorite one feel free to share.

Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix were friends. Here Jimi Hendrix covers Cream's "Sunshine of Your Life"...

Jimi Hendrix made Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" his own. Below he covers Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"..

Jimi Hendrix could play about anything. Here he plays Carl Perkin's "Blue Suede Shoes"

Here Hendrix covers The Trogg's "Wild Thing"

I am not going to post some obvious covers since I was trying to avoid repeating myself. Enjoy Jimi's birthday!

Remembering Freddie Mercury

22 years ago Freddie Mercury passed away. One of the top front men of all time, a great singer, and a member of a band all of my kids have enjoyed, I enjoyed as a kid and now, the band of course is Queen.

Here is how many of us heard the news on MTV..

I think I will share a few of my favorites here. I am sure I will miss some but I have blogged about Queen before so there may be a few more.

Here he performs "Living on My Own"...

As an adult I can relate to this song, which also features David Bowie..

This song hooked me as a kid on this band, my son and daughter have both enjoyed this song as well..

We will end with this one..

Thanks for stopping bye I will be back soon with a new post!

Remembering Hubert Sumlin

Today, November 16 marks Hubert Sumlin's birthday. The great blues guitarist passed away a few years back.I met him once and shot the breeze with him. He was a gracious man. As a blues fan it is a memory I will cherish.

Here he gives a blues history lesson..

Hubert Sumlin doing what he did best..

Jamming with some all stars..

Hope you enjoy! Like the tunes check out the Pirate Radio on facebook for more.

Happy Birthday Whopi Goldberg

Today is Whoopi's Birthday! So it is time to celebrate her career as an actor and comedian.

Here she is in "Sister Act"

Here is a bit of stand up...

On "The View"

A trailer for "Made in America"

Her career has spanned Broadway, movies, comedy stages and television.

Happy Birthday Neil Young

Today Neil Young turns another year older. He is still an "old man"

However, he has had a long career and provided lots of music.

In lots of styles..

 

Well I wish him many more birthdays and hope he keeps on rocking...

Veteran's Day

Most Veteran's Days I write a blog post thanking our veterans. They deserve a thank you everyday for the sacrifices they make and they all make sacrifices. I say thank you to those who served in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, The Coast Guard, the reserves and guard.

I wish you all peace! I also wish your brothers and sisters in arms who are missing in action make it home some day and that they are never forgotten!

Mike's Pirate Radio

Well I decided to start a Pirate Radio page on facebook. I got the idea from Devon Allman who has a similar page on facebook. I share a lot of music on this blog. The difference is I will share music from musicians I know, local artists from everywhere, some obscure artists, some mainstream, and a lot of different genres.

I take suggestions, posts, promote gigs, I hope it turns into a bunch of fun! Here is the link to the page.
I have Americana music from Delnora Reed, Country Blues from Duffy Kane, rocking blues from Bobby Parker, and African artist Oliver Mtukudzi performing a song Bonnie Raitt had a hit with!

This is just day one more to come! However, feel free to join the fun!

Joni Mitchell Happy 70th

Joni Mitchell could be the most influential musician of her generation. A huge  statement I thought about when I realized today was her 70th birthday. Her catalog stacks up well. Her songs have been covered a lot. I think her songs could compare well with Bob Dylan's songs. I think she herself a bit with her musicianship playing more instruments. Her guitar playing and alternate guitar tunings even influenced Jimmy Page.However, music is not a competition. She is great, she is perhaps under rated, and she is now 70! We celebrate it here with lots of songs...

I really like this song Both Sides Now. A friend of mine turned me onto this song a long time ago and I was lucky enough to see Judy Collins cover it over the summer.

This song might be my favorite Joni Mitchell song..A Case of You..

She is probably best known for this song..

Another favorite..

She never made it to Woodstock but she wrote this..

I could go on and on with her songs. I hope you enjoyed and I will be back soon with a new post.

11.06 Happy Birthday Glen Frey

Glen Frey turned 65 today. Being a member of The Eagles and having a solo career is a great reason to celebrate his birthday!

Here is a fun look back at his Miami Vice days with his Pepsi commercial with Don Johnson..

"The Heat is On" from The Beverly Hills Cop movies..

Part of You, Part of Me from Thelma and Louise Soundtrack

Yes he had a boom in 80s TV and movies. The shows I grew up with.

Here he is with Eagles...

What a career! Cheers to 65!

My Fantasy Team Got Crushed

It was ugly my fantasy football team was crushed 160 to 84. My team was on a good run and had won several straight. The loss drops me to 5-4 and fourth place.

It didn't help that Nick Foles had a season for the Philadelphia Eagles. He finished with 48 points. My quarterbacks finished collectively with 4. Foles had a record game tossing seven touchdown strikes,

Oh well there is always next week.

Voices of Wetlands

I had been wanting to catch Tab Benoit's Voices of Wetlands All-Star Band for sometime. Well the last time I was in New Orleans my friend Eric mentioned they were playing later in the month. I didn't know if I could make it since my hours at work were changing. Well things worked out.



Well the lineup for the band changes quite often. Being the guitar fan that I am I wanted to catch Tab playing with Anders Osborne another great guitarist living in the New Orleans area. My wish was granted! Truth be told I wold have made the trip just to see Tab play.

It was a bonus that the proceeds of the free concert series was going to help the hungry in New Orleans. It sames like everywhere there are hungry and homeless. A good cause, beautiful weather, a good friend, and great music. That's what I call a super mid-week get away.



There was a third guitarist in the band this time around, he was Tom Malone. He was in a local band called The Subdudes and has played with a bunch of greats. The band also consisted of Waylon Thibodeaux on fiddle and Johnny Sansone on harmonica and accordion both musicians were a real treat and added a lot of Louisiana culture to the show.

Here they play "Let it Go" from that show..

Here they perform "Poor Man's Paradise" from that show..

Really you can't beat that for a free concert in a city park! Obviously I enjoyed the show and thought I wold share.

Still Fishing..

Well the fishing at my usual spot stopped being productive for me so I stopped fishing for about three weeks.
Earlier in September I wrote a post about my fishing adventures. To catch you up I did try another a spot and caught some Southern Kingfish also know as Ground Mullet. No these are not the big Kingfish, they are rather small but supposed to be darn good table fare. This spot was closer to the gulf of Mexico, I also caught my usual suspects croakers and pinfish.

I went back to my regular spot and a lagoon down the road. The lagoon was more freshwater and I managed to catch two nice size hardhead catfish. They like fresh, brackish and salt water. I tired of catching them and went back to my spot and caught a smaller catfish. The spot was good for me I fished it a few times catching more redfish, catfish, some small sea bass, pinfish and croaker. I also caught a new fish for me..

Black drum, I caught two about this size one day..


September was good but October the fishing changed.

Well today was nice, I was running errands and had lunch. My fishing rod was in my truck and where I was felt a lot warmer than 70 degrees like my phone said it was. So I went to my usual bait shop, the guy suggested my spot should still be productive and even hinted I walk out in the water. I asked for other spots and he suggested one I tried the lagoon. I tried my spot with no luck. An osprey flew over me and I saw four pelicans resting on pilings. The birds weren't even fishing and nothing was touching my shrimp. So, I tried the other spot.

Nothing for a while, then I started getting some bites. The fish were better at bait stealing than I was at catching them for sure! The sun was starting to set so I went to the other side of the bridge. It was worth it since I did get to capture this..



Then I was getting some bites on the other side. Finally, I caught something a stingray.



You never know what you might catch. 

R.I.P Bobby Parker

His musical resume is impressive on a world wide level. However, like a lot of great musicians he made the Washington, D.C. area his home. I am talking about the blues guitarist Bobby Parker who I wrote an article about his passing which you can read here.

Obviously on an article like that I am limited on the music I can share. Here I am not. Since I shared the sad story and his bio information in the  article. I wanted to share his music and celebrate his life, I had the privileged to see him perform a couple of times.

He is best known for this influential hit..

Here Bobby Parker plays with Carlos Santana..

Here he performs "Blues Get Off My Shoulder"

I am going to end with The Spencer Davis Group covering Bobby Parker

Bobby Parker rest in peace you will be missed!

All Saints Day

In honor of All Saints day and being pretty close to New Orleans I thought I would dedicate my post to "When The Saints Go Marching In."


Here is a classic version by Louis Armstrong...

From a jazz great to a blues great here is B.B. King's version...

Here is the funk master James Brown with his Motown version...

Bringing it back to New Orleans with Dr. John...

Maybe a royal version by the king himself Elvis..

and I'll end with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band giving a great brass, funky, New Orleans version of the great song..

Enjoy your All Saints Day and enjoy the music!