dimland radio 8-21-10 show notes

No sexual innuendo on my show. Ever. (At least not so far)

I was cool once

Legendary Minneapolis nightclub: First Avenue

It's true! There was a time when I was hip to the cool music and the supercool Minneapolis night club, First Avenue. (If you saw the Prince movie 'Purple Rain', you've seen the night club.) I talked a little about hanging out there, slam dancing, and the hardcore punk band, Husker Du.

Hardcore punk group: Husker Du

I found a video on YouTube of Husker Du in concert at First Avenue taken on January 30, 1985. And I was there! You can't see me in the video, but I was there. I wrote about this show right here on this blog. Check it out here.

90s pop punk group: Elastica

I was also at First Avenue when Elastica filmed the live portions to the video for their song 'Stutter'. No, you can't see me in that one either, but I was there. Really, I was.

Around the table with a funny baby

I asked people to check a cute and humorous video of my then less than a year old son playing around the table in our living room.

Please check it out here.

It's Not True

So you don't drink eight glasses of water each day, do you think you're dehydrated? Odds are that you aren't. You see, the idea of drinking that much water a day at minimum is a myth. Most people get plenty of water not only from what they drink, but also from what they eat.

You can find more info here, here, and here. So if you're thirsty, have something to drink and try not to worry about it.

Will beg for money

Hang on! This homeless fellow has three hands!

I then speculated on whether panhandlers work in shifts. I've see what looks like shift changes taking place and I've always been curious about it. Maybe all ask one of the fellows about it someday.

Science makes a change

Triceratops

Torosaurus (no longer)

Yes, it's true. That dogmatic, stick to its old ideas forever, never changing practice of science changed. I'm being sarcastic. Science is an ever changing process. As knowledge and evidence is accumulated, scientists find that they have made mistakes and have been wrong about some of their ideas and theories. However, because science isn't set in stone, it is capable of changing its mind. Can we say the same about religion?

Case in point, paleontologists have recently found that the triceratops and the torosaurus are not separate species of dinosaurs, but they are, in fact, one species. The triceratops is the younger version of the torosaurus. Now all those museum nameplates will have to be changed.

Read more about it here.

Natural benefits of tart cherry juice

I had been hearing ads for a tart cherry juice concentrate that, when added to most any beverage, has all kinds of health benefits. I was always quite skeptical of the claims. But there's a recent study that suggests that cherry juice can help you fall asleep faster. Although the study was very small, only 15 people participated, it shows that I may be wrong in my skepticism. We shall see.

You can read more about it here.

Movie recommendation

This week's movie is the documentary 'Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who'. If you are a Who fan (and why wouldn't you be?) you must watch this film. It is very comprehensive and the extras disk has some fascinating short docs on each band member's musical contribution to The Who's sound. The one about Keith Moon is especially intriguing.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'I Apologize' by Husker Du & 'Creatures Of Love' by Talking Heads
Second ad break bumpers: 'Falling (Theme to Twin Peaks)' by Angelo Badalamenti & 'Invaders Of The Heart' by Cheap Trick
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle


That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com You can also download my show from the Z Talk Show Archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

concert memoirs pt. 34 - duran duran & elastica

Duran Duran

8/18/00 New World Music Theatre w/Amy, Sarah & Sean Ticket Price: $26.50

Yep, that's right. Duran Duran. Hard to believe I would see this band, right? Guess what else. The New World Music Theatre is in Joliet, Illinois! Uh huh, we drove all the way to Joliet to see the "wild boys". If you're thinking a woman was involved, you'd be right.

I think Duran Duran has a few good songs, but I'd never buy one of their albums or go to their show if it weren't for Amy. Amy and her friend, Sarah, are lifelong fans of the band and they'd never seen them, so, when Sarah heard they'd get as close as Illinois on that year's tour, she convinced us to go. It didn't take much to convince Amy, but they had to suggest making it a weekend in Chicago to convince Sean (Sarah's boyfriend at the time) and I to go.

Sarah got the tickets to the show and tickets to a Chicago White Sox game (something for the boys), while Amy found lodging. So, off we went, Sean and Sarah in their car, Amy and I in ours to take in the glory of Duran Duran (and the White Sox and whatever else Chicago had to offer).

It turned out to be a pretty good time. We saw the sites in Chicago and were fortunate to be there the weekend of the big air show that takes place there every year. We took in the Museum of Modern Art, the Field Museum, the world-famous fountain, and the Hard Rock Cafe (ok, that last one was rather pedestrian, but still).

So, the big show! Well, we all piled into Sean's car and headed to the outdoor amphitheater. As we were queued up in the car waiting to get into the parking area, I was treated to one of the more bizarre moments in my life with Amy.

We were waiting there when a long, black limo drove past us heading toward the venue. I spotted it and said, in all innocence, "Maybe that's them in the limo."

"SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!!!!!"

The sound came from the backseat of the car where Amy and Sarah were seated. I slowly turned to look at my girlfriend, "Was that you?"

She was so embarrassed, but, yes, it had been her who had shrieked. I had never before nor since heard her make that sound, even after she had recently been surprised by a mouse in our kitchen. Very interesting.

So, Duran Duran hit the stage and were greeted by a lot of shrieks. There were an awful lot of female types in the crowd. I think it was one of the few shows I'd been to where the women outnumbered the men. I wonder why that would be?

The show was pretty good. I've admitted that I do like a few of their tunes. I don't think Sean was very interested, though. Judging by his mullet and the kind of car he drove (some muscle car, I forget which), I think Sean was more interested in Toby Keith style country music or 80's hair bands, maybe both.

But, Amy and Sarah were in heaven. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves. The venue was outdoors and the sun had gone down so the conditions were fairly comfortable. However, I noticed that Amy and Sarah seemed to be glistening. They weren't sweating profusely, but had this light sheen to their skin. They seemed to glisten more during their favorite songs, as well. Sean and I weren't glistening.

The show over, we headed back to the car and got in one of the lines of cars heading for the freeway. As we slowly made our way out, I noticed that a jeep we were coming along side of was sporting an intriguing license plate. The personalized plate read "N RAYGUN". I was so excited to see Naked Raygun fans, I shrieked liked a certain Duran Duran fan...

No, I'm kidding. I didn't shriek, however, as we came along side them, I called out, "Naked Raygun kicks ass!"

The occupants of the jeep wholeheartedly agreed.

It turned out to be a very good eventful weekend in Joliet and Chicago. And Duran Duran didn't suck.

Elastica
9/26/00 First Avenue w/Amy & Mark Ticket Price: Unknown

As you can see, the ticket states that this was "the long awaited return of Elastica". That may have been true, but it was a disappointing return.

They were late in taking the stage. As soon as they had started to play, the drum kit had a malfunction. Something on it had broken. They stopped playing, apologized, and then excused themselves while the crew made repairs. So we had to wait another 15 minutes or so.

Another long awaited return later, they came back to the stage. Their set was rather lackluster. The energy and fun of the last time I'd seen them (First Avenue, 6/4/95) just wasn't there that night. Partly due to the fact that their second album, 'Menace', was also on the lackluster side. Despite the presence of Mark E. Smith, 'Menace' didn't pack the same punch as their debut album.

A couple years after this show, City Pages, a local weekly newspaper, had an article about people's memories of First Avenue, the famous Minneapolis nightclub. I think the article was prompted by the brief closing of the club at that time. One of the contributors to the article remembered Elastica's members' desperate search for heroin. So, that may have been one reason for the poor quality of the show.

There was an additional member to the band's line-up for the show. A young gal who occasionally played keyboards and shouted a few backing vocals. However, it seemed that the main reason she was there was to dance around and shake her boobies. Boobies barely restrained by a thin t-shirt. (Yes, Amy, I noticed)

Our friend, Mark, commented after the show that Miss Boobies must have been the girlfriend of someone in the band.

concert memoirs pt. 25 - burning spear, the fall & elastica

Burning Spear

8/29/94 First Avenue w/Mike Ticket Price: Comp. Tickets

Well, well. The second comp. ticket concert in a row. And it’s also a show attended without John. John wasn’t interested or was otherwise busy.

You will notice that from here on there won’t be many shows that I saw with John. I would be moving into John’s basement the following spring (Just in case you’re all wondering, no, we aren’t gay. We weren’t a couple. Let’s move on.) and, once I had started living in John’s house, John and I barely hung out together. Even before I had moved in the trend away from each other had begun. We're still friends.

I wasn’t sure I was going to go when I’m mentioned, at work, that I had a couple tickets to the upcoming Burning Spear show. A coworker, Mike, was big into the reggae so he jumped at the chance to go.

I knew only one song by the band. The song was Ku Klux Klan. I had seen them perform it in the very influential (for me and John) concert film, “Urgh! A Music War”.

Despite the fact that I knew none of the material, I had a blast. It was a fun show.

Everyone at First Avenue was grooving to the music. And I do mean everyone! Everywhere I looked in the packed club were people dancing. On the main floor, off to the sides, in the back, upstairs - everywhere!

What a great time and John missed it.

The Fall
9/17/94 First Avenue Alone Ticket Price: Unknown

Yep, I went to this show alone. I’m not sure why John didn’t go. It is unusual that John wasn’t there, The Fall being one of his favorite bands. It’s possible that the concert happened while John was in Europe.

So, I ventured in alone and stood right up at the front of the stage. The ultra-cool Mark E. Smith paced the stage while delivering his unique vocals. He was also fiddling around with a small tape player. It appeared that he was trying to get it to play something through his microphone. Apparently, it wasn’t working so, eventually, he gave up.

Another good show that John missed.

Elastica
6/4/95 First Avenue w/Joel & Gary Ticket Price: Unknown

I went with a couple of other friends of mine, Joel and Gary. I knew Joel better. He and I had worked together at Wendy’s for years and did a lot of hanging out together. Gary was Joel’s roommate and an all around good guy.

As we waited for the band to play, I caught the eye of a young woman. She spotted the shirt I was wearing. It was a white t-shirt with a large depiction of the Canadian flag. She asked if I was from Canada. I answered honestly (as my mother taught me to do) and said, “Nope. I just like the flag.”

She gave me an “oh” and quickly moved on.

Joel and Gary jumped right on me. They said I missed a golden opportunity to hook up. I should have lied and said I was Canadian.

I don’t operate that way. I didn’t then, I don’t now (my wife would object). I knew she would figure out I wasn’t from Canada. I guess I blew it, eh?

I never did pick up any women at First Avenue.

Heavily influenced by Wire and other 70’s era punk bands, Elastica was one of the last great bands to pogo to. And I pogoed myself to near exhaustion. It didn’t take long, either, because I had gotten a little bit older and I was feeling it.

I avoided the slam dance pit. I didn’t feel up to it at my ripe old age of 30. So I stayed off to the side and pogoed away. Much to the chagrin of the young woman standing near me. My dancing and the moving crowd caused me to bump her a couple of times. She wasn’t pleased and she let me know it. I told her she should expect a little bumping standing where she was and that I was from Canada. (Ok, I didn’t say that last bit about being from Canada.)

Oh well, I never did pick up any women at First Avenue.

It was a great show and they had a special announcement for us. They were going to be filming the concert sequences for their video for the song Stutter. They actually played the song twice. Once during their regular set and again in their encore.

They told us about the filming just before they played Stutter the second time. They told us to go crazy and show a lot of enthusiasm. They wanted the audience to be really revved up and we obliged.

So, if you watch that video on the YouTube, you now know that part of it was filmed at First Avenue and I was there.