SQUEE!
We are picking Alex up tonight! He has been neutered, microchipped and vaccinated. We got him a portable crate/kennel thing he can hang out in, which will help with the housebreaking. My first goal is to teach him how to go up and down stairs.
One bit of bad news: they are still waiting for the results of his EKG for the heart murmur. The issue: there is apparently a Canada-wide shortage of veterinary graph paper due to a huge shipment being held up at some port or border crossing somewhere. So the vet can't print the test results to read them--crazy, no? Since it might take weeks to get the paper, we decided not to wait to adopt. From the X-ray and auscultation, the vet says it's a between a Grade 4 and 5 (out of a possible 6). So it's high, but the vet thinks it will be manageable with meds. But it's a bit of a risk. He could die tomorrow like he could live 10 more years. And because of all the tests and meds he needed, his adoption fee is quite high--$700. But Mr BA and I both feel like it's the right thing to do.
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Charlie, the creator of the cool little creatures called saucernauts is apparently planning to drop a bomb on us.. here is a little sneak peek... Can't wait to see more!
...Sneak a Peak...
Please note that this is a work in progress...details on what it is, where it came from, etc to follow.
Check out saucernauts at Saucernauts.com
Yes. I am tired.
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07/18/08 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
Album Discography
07/19/08 Goshen, IN Elkhart County 4-H Fair 07/21/08 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah's Casino - Stir Concert Cove 07/26/08 Oakville, CA Robert Mondavi Winery 07/27/08 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore 08/01/08 C Mesa, CA Pacific Amphitheatre 08/02/08 Primm, NV Star of the Desert Arena 08/03/08 San Diego, CA Humphrey's Concerts 08/05/08 Saratoga, CA The Mountain Winery 08/09/08 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen 08/10/08 Colorado Springs, CO Pikes Peak 08/11/08 Beaver Creek, CO Vilar Center 08/14/08 Silverton, OR Oregon Garden 08/15/08 Tacoma, WA Emerald Queen 08/16/08 Richmond, BC River Rock Casino 08/17/08 Coquitlam, BC Red Robinson 08/19/08 Medicine Hat, AB Esplanade 08/20/08 Regina, SK Casino Regina Show 08/22/08 ON Thunder Bay Comm Auditorium 08/23/08 MN Grand Casino Hinckley 08/24/08 Sault Ste Marie,MI Kewadin Casino 08/26/08 Verona, NY Turning Stone Casino 08/27/08 Jim Thorpe, PA Penn's Peak 08/29/08 Lincoln, RI Twin River Casino 08/31/08 Bridgeport, CT Klein Memorial Aud 09/05/08 CA Chukchansi Gold Casino 09/06/08 Rancho Cucamonga, CA Lewis Family Playhouse
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I'm probably not qualify to write this article, as I thought I only knew a few popular songs ("Love is a Battlefield" and "Heartbreaker") from Pat Benatar, a pop singer who dominated the American charts in the 80s, but after giving Pat Benatar: Ultimate Collection 2-CD album a listen, I can tell you that I was familiar with a lot of her works!
Her songs, especially the early pop rock hits, reminds me a lot of Patty Smyth in Scandal, both having strong female vocals backed by a tight band, rocking out to music themes such as the heat of the night, children of the street, belonging to something, and promises of love.
There are many good songs on this collection, but I will only be mentioning a few stand-out tracks. "Heartbreaker", her major-hit debut single, originally released in 1979 from her album, In the Heat of the Night.
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot", I've always thought it was an Olivia Newton-John song. Imagine my surprise when I found out that this was a big hit for Benatar!
I was also surprise to hear "I Need a Lover", a John Cougar Mellencamp song! Her take on it emphasized more on her aggressive girl vocals.
"Love is a Battlefield", gives new meaning to synchronized dancing by runaways. I think the cheesy music video to this song, more or less, made the song really popular in the 80s. A little bit of trivia, this original release was on a live album called Live From Earth (1983). Out of this live album are two studio tracks, the battlefield song and "Lipstick Lies".
While the first disc covers most of her singles from her first five studio albums (1979-1983), the second disc covers the rest of her career, but only from her former record label, Chrysalis Records (1984-1993). What's interesting to note is her shift from rocker to a more mellow pop and even jazz, on such classic songs like "We Belong" (this sounds like a Journey song), and the jazzy "True Love" (lots of piano and brass instruments on this one).
It is kind of nice to see Benatar dipping into different genres outside of pop (she even does blues on "Payin' the Cost to Be the Boss"), I suppose it's a sign that she was growing up in those later years. We're talking about thirty year's worth of music, although looking at her discography, there are huge gaps after 1993 that suggests she's in semi-retirement of recording original music? Her last album, Go, came out in 2003, but perhaps with this latest tour and Ultimate Collection that was just released might spark some interest to get her back to the studio?
Ultimate Collection is really meant for casual and new fans, but I think it will also appeal to hardcore fans, as it does a wonderful job compiling Benatar's hits with some misses. The forty songs on two CDs (and official digital tracks), with half of it were top 40 hits. For new fans, this is a great way of getting all these songs for a reasonably low price.
To coincide with the album release (June 24th from Capitol/EMI Records and can be found at all major record stores), Benatar went on tour since May. She's currently just finished up Knoxville, Tennessee, and probably heading to your town. If possible you should see her do live rendition of all her hits.
Links:
www.benatar.com
benatarfanclub.com
myspace.com/officialpatbenatar
He sits like a human, a chair of flesh.
incarcerated from birth
as blatant as a prison yard.
He will not look directly at me
but I feel his focus
touch mine with tactile lips
the way it would a strange fruit
in the jungle.
I watch him
gently touch his genitalia.
We are brothers in the same private room
the same tidal impulses
hold us captive.
It is a terrible thing we have done
a dreadful well-intentioned sin.
Saving him as we did
while poaching his memory.
Blood kin should not be this way-
so ashamed to be together.
(C) Eric Ashford July 08
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