Jeff Beck

 This is so sad....

Jeff Beck (78) died of bacterial meningitis.

Don McLean sings "The day the guitar died"

Jeff is simply one of the best guitarists ever. He constantly kept things interesting by going in unexpected directions, like classical, Johnny Depp, the 2 ladies he found in a local pub..  He always had a variety of players onstage, including a lot of women, who got the gig with their talent. A few albums included Jan Hammer, formerly of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Jan went on to do music for Don Johnson's show, set in Florida.

Early Jeff Beck came via the Yardbirds, which also gave us Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.

Next was the Jeff Beck Group, with a little known, spiky-haired singer who was so nervous, he hid backstage. You know him as Rod Stewart.

The next Jeff Beck Group was a 5 man talented bunch, with Cozy Powell on drums. They ran 2 albums, 

Then BBA - Beck Bogert Appice, a power trio that also didn't last long.

then Jeff was largely solo. Only he preferred tinkering with his hot rods, like Billy Gibbons, to touring, I believe they were good friends, playing together a lot live and Jeff appeared on an album. He and Rod got together every now and then. I think they were planning something soon.

He had a rockabilly phase and tour.

The solo albums were incredible, with different ideas, and just got better as Jeff got older.

Listen to my favorite album, Blow by Blow   - Stevie Wonder appears, uncredited, produced by George Martin (the Beatles)

My favorite song, also from Blow by Blow - Cause We Ended as Lovers (by Stevie Wonder)

Look on YouTube for Live at Ronnie Scott's. An incredible appearance in a small club. Jimmy Page does a walk-on. At one point you can see Robert Plant in the audience.

When Jimi Hendrix first came to England, he started playing at clubs, generating a reputation for being a wild man on the guitar. The Beatles, The Stones, Eric Clapton, and Jeff all went to see him, scared from what they heard about him. They were the Big Guns. They left wide-eyed.

Nothing to worry about, Jeff.

GODDAMMIT  they were my heroes. I learned most of their songs. I performed Hendrix songs in my first high school bands. I spent a lot of time trying to get Jeff's lyricism and bent note phrasing. It was never going to happen, but I had fun. He inspired so many musicians, starting in the early 60s. I tried to get him to sign my #1 guitar, but he's pretty reclusive after concerts. I even called the concert's sponsor.

At least we still have his music. Eight Grammys, from when a Grammy wasn't decided by deaf people. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Yardbirds and solo, back before Donna Summer, Eminem, and Tupac were inducted.

RIP, Lord of the Strings

Is Bathing with Table Saws a Thing?

US, UK sign pact to share electronic evidence in criminal cases

This is called hiding in plain sight. It's also a legal restating of current and past policy.

Cheap android smartphones are expensive in privacy.
Can't upgrade android. Can't uninstall crapware. Location is stuck on.

DoorDash exposed 4.9 million users' personal data.
Go out and buy your own food, people.




Dear lefty

• Why is there air?
• So your penis doesn't fly away when you take a bath

I don't care who you are or where you live, there are 2 words that don't belong together: breakfast and burrito. The words go together like razorblades and hubcaps. It sounds pretty icky upon first hearing it. But, in trying to be open minded, you figure it has the same thing as other breakfasts. Then you realize you're just fooling yourself. Then your wife brings you one from a convenience store. Then you try it. Then you realize this was a patently ridiculous idea, as egg pieces parachute to your pants. Salsa? On eggs? No. I don't like sausage much, and the place is always out of ham or bacon. So I don't like it.

Now that I type this, I realize there's a hidden conspiracy: wife buys 2 sandwiches and gives me 1. It's disgusting. She gets to eat both of them.  I'm ok with a regular burrito for breakfast. Better yet, ice cream or a malt.




Today I identify as Bill Clinton - have a cigar!

• A few weeks back I said one thing we didn't want to hear ever again was 'game changer'. Apparently no one got the memo. Why do they taunt me so?

Yes, it's that time. Time to call the divorce lawyers. Yes, it's Pumpkin Spice Time.
This year's crop is over the top...

• pumpkin spice elephants
• pumpkin spice enemas
• pumpkin spice bagels
• pumpkin spice vacuums
• pumpkin spice pumpkin spice
• pumpkin spice babies (eat the babies!)

No thank you, I'd rather live in a world where no one uses turn signals... Hey!

• You'd never know it from the press, but Sir George Martin produced two Jeff Beck albums: Blow by Blow and Wired.

Hillary Clinton stripped a few gears recently, and referred to Tulsi Gabbard as a Russian asset. She also called Dan Rather, Superman, Led Zeppelin, and the dead Koch brother Russian assets.

Never one to back down, Tulsi referred to Hillary as a baby eater, a Dan Rather groupie, and Huma's sugar mama. Also, Satan's asset. Hillary got offended because she's nobody's asset - she IS Satan.




Vice has an article on Twitter and their moderation.
uh-oh

Twitter has an unflinching commitment to being a public space, where even highly offensive voices are allowed to be heard.

cut it out.

"There are times when we could simply disappear something. We don't do that,"

You are so full of excrement, your entire company is brown.

• Twitter denied the company purposefully made it harder for people to report tweets, and instead said it focused on making it easier to report tweets that legitimately required attention, while cutting down on the number of malicious reports, such as those from trolls abusing the reporting system.

really? I see open posts, calling for people to report someone's tweets because they don't like the message or the person.

• "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." - Winston Churchill

Heroes of the Stupid

There's a new app that tells pilots when their plane has been hacked.
Right before they hit the ground.



SJW Invasions

New paper argues that sex robots should be programmed to make consent decisions (which could result in sex robots rejecting their owner's sexual advances) to prevent the normalization of non-consensual sex

Columbia's library building features the names of only male authors. After 3 decades of trying, these students have fixed that



[Space Station not optimized for women]
Can we take a moment to talk about optimizing and gender?

Do you see the blue bar on the floor? Astronauts can tuck their feet under that or grab hold of it to stabilize themselves.

Luca has his feet tucked under it. Jessica does not. [she can't see out the window]



Supporting Greta Thunberg is evidence of white supremacy, white privilege, and white power, activists claim.  So is reading this blog - you have been warned.



San Diego City College hosted a white supremacist seminar in early October, distributing flyers claiming that cultural appropriation, “racist mascots,” and “Make America Great Again” are instances of white supremacy.

Fun News from the World of Music

From the Unlikely Suspects department, did you know that Hulk Hogan almost played bass for Metallica?

George Harrison's son, Dhani, discovered what sounds like a sketch for a lead on the original Here Comes the Sun tracks.  He is shown with Sir George Martin and his son.

For reasons upon which I would rather not speculate, Ozzy Osbourne is giving away a free colonoscopy.

Since it's borderline illegal for the mainstream media to mention Ron Paul, here's a bit from non-mainstream media about celebrity endorsements. [hint: he's got them]  The question remains what to do with off-center endorsees like Snoop Dog (or worse, Gene Simmons)


I just discovered Brad Pitt is roughly my age.  Yet he continues to be very good-looking.

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Bevilacqua and Paterno took the easy way out.
Discuss.